Brokerages Set Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) Target Price at $514.88

Shares of Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $514.88.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SAIA shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Saia from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Saia from $503.00 to $488.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Saia from $492.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Saia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $440.00 to $437.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Saia from $515.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Rohit Lal sold 1,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $627,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,631,200. This represents a 11.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAIA. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Saia by 2.6% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 869,859 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $412,566,000 after purchasing an additional 22,143 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position 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 valued at $352,255,000 after buying an additional 24,351 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in Saia by 10.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Saia by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 471,667 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $206,292,000 after acquiring an additional 6,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 31,991 shares during the last quarter.

Saia Stock Performance

Shares of Saia stock opened at $465.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.37 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Saia has a 52 week low of $358.90 and a 52 week high of $628.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $514.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $459.62.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $842.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.82 million. Saia had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Saia will post 13.51 earnings per share for the current 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.