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

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $524.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Saia from $566.00 to $558.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Saia from $550.00 to $510.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on Saia from $620.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Saia from $456.00 to $478.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Saia from $525.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $535.12.

Saia Stock Performance

NASDAQ SAIA opened at $420.35 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $478.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $467.40. Saia has a 1-year low of $358.90 and a 1-year high of $628.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.79.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The transportation company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.03). Saia had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $789.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Saia will post 15.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Saia

In other Saia news, EVP Patrick D. Sugar sold 799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.74, for a total transaction of $394,498.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,260,482.46. This represents a 8.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. Batteh sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,663,299.34. This represents a 17.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,493 shares of company stock valued at $4,646,181. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Saia

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAIA. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Saia in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Saia by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 60 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Saia during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Saia by 291.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 94 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Saia by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period.

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.