Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) was upgraded by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $524.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 28.86% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on SAIA. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Saia from $600.00 to $565.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Saia from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Saia in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Saia from $492.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Saia from $550.00 to $510.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $535.12.

Saia Trading Down 10.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ SAIA opened at $406.65 on Monday. Saia has a twelve month low of $358.90 and a twelve month high of $628.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $467.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.79.

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

Insider Activity at Saia

In related news, CEO Frederick J. Holzgrefe III sold 7,534 shares of Saia stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.34, for a total value of $3,671,619.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,599,114.30. This trade represents a 29.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick D. Sugar sold 799 shares of Saia stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.74, for a total value of $394,498.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,629 shares in the company, valued at $4,260,482.46. The trade was a 8.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,493 shares of company stock worth $4,646,181. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Saia during the third quarter worth about $1,408,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE purchased a new stake in shares of Saia during the fourth quarter worth about $1,324,000. Legato Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Saia by 100.6% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 1,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of Saia by 89.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,313 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Saia by 2.8% during the fourth 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 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.