Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Trading Down 10.7% Following Insider Selling

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)’s stock price traded down 10.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $408.99 and last traded at $405.29. 160,231 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 362,837 shares. The stock had previously closed at $453.90.

Specifically, CAO Kelly W. Benton sold 460 shares of Saia stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,287 shares in the company, valued at $2,143,500. The trade was a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Batteh sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.09, for a total transaction of $350,063.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,663,299.34. This trade represents a 17.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Saia from $492.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Saia from $550.00 to $510.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Saia in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Saia from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Saia from $566.00 to $558.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Saia has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $535.41.

Saia Stock Down 12.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $10.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $482.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $465.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The transportation company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $789.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.69 million. Saia had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Saia, Inc. will post 15.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saia

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SAIA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Saia by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,522,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,149,779,000 after purchasing an additional 25,090 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Saia by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,939,615 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $883,941,000 after acquiring an additional 794,197 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Saia by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 805,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $352,255,000 after acquiring an additional 24,351 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Saia by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 692,405 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $302,761,000 after acquiring an additional 64,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Saia by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 471,667 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $206,292,000 after acquiring an additional 6,456 shares in the last quarter.

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.