Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,660,000 shares, a decline of 20.6% from the November 30th total of 2,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 366,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Saia from $651.00 to $644.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Saia from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Saia from $492.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Saia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $440.00 to $437.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Saia from $481.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $514.88.

Saia Stock Up 0.2 %

Saia stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $460.22. The stock had a trading volume of 137,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 382,995. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $512.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $459.56. Saia has a 12 month low of $358.90 and a 12 month high of $628.34. The stock has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.74.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The transportation company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $842.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $839.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Saia will post 13.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Saia

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

Institutional Trading of Saia

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SAIA. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Saia by 2.6% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 869,859 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $412,566,000 after acquiring an additional 22,143 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Saia by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 805,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $352,255,000 after buying an additional 24,351 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Saia by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 692,405 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $302,761,000 after acquiring an additional 64,351 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in shares of Saia by 11.8% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 303,582 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $132,744,000 after purchasing an additional 31,991 shares in the last quarter.

Saia Company Profile

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.