Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $443.00 to $529.00. The stock had previously closed at $495.70, but opened at $508.71. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the stock. Saia shares last traded at $497.59, with a volume of 16,070 shares.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on Saia from $612.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Saia from $492.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded Saia from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $511.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $530.00 target price (down from $565.00) on shares of Saia in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Saia from $503.00 to $488.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $527.65.

Insider Transactions at Saia

In related news, EVP Rohit Lal sold 1,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 8,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,631,200. The trade was a 11.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Saia by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 805,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $352,255,000 after buying an additional 24,351 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Saia by 10.2% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 692,405 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $302,761,000 after purchasing an additional 64,351 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Saia by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 471,667 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $206,292,000 after purchasing an additional 6,456 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in Saia by 11.8% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 303,582 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $132,744,000 after purchasing an additional 31,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Saia by 64.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 250,626 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $109,589,000 after purchasing an additional 98,383 shares in the last quarter.

Saia Stock Up 1.2 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $503.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $460.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $13.34 billion, a PE ratio of 35.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.79.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The transportation company reported $3.46 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $842.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Saia, Inc. will post 13.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Saia

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.