Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $620.00 to $600.00. The stock had previously closed at $493.04, but opened at $481.67. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Saia shares last traded at $482.27, with a volume of 25,603 shares changing hands.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on SAIA. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Saia from $440.00 to $443.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Saia from $525.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Saia from $499.00 to $566.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Saia from $465.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $530.00 price objective (down previously from $565.00) on shares of Saia in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $522.59.

Insider Transactions at Saia

In other Saia news, EVP Rohit Lal sold 1,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $627,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,631,200. This trade represents a 11.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saia

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SAIA. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Saia by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Saia by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Saia by 71.7% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,766,000 after acquiring an additional 2,534 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Saia by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,247 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Saia by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 59,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,285,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644 shares during the period.

Saia Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $506.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $459.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.79.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The transportation company reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by ($0.07). Saia had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The business had revenue of $842.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $839.82 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Saia, Inc. will post 13.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saia Company Profile

Saia, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a transportation company in North America. The company provides less-than-truckload services for shipments between 100 and 10,000 pounds; and other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services. It also offers other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services.