The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Stock Price

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) had its price target raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $492.00 to $563.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the transportation company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.50% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on SAIA. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Saia from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Saia in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Saia from $443.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Saia from $465.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Saia from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $514.88.

Saia Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SAIA opened at $528.65 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.74. Saia has a 1 year low of $358.90 and a 1 year high of $628.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $503.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $454.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The transportation company reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.53 by ($0.07). Saia had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 11.83%. The business had revenue of $842.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $839.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Saia will post 13.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Saia 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,270 shares in the company, valued at $4,631,200. This represents a 11.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SAIA. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Saia during the third quarter valued at about $1,408,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Saia by 6.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 68,474 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,633,000 after buying an additional 3,886 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Saia by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,282 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Saia by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,927 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Saia during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000.

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.