Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) had its price objective increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $443.00 to $529.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Saia from $525.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Saia from $651.00 to $644.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Saia from $465.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded Saia from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $511.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Saia from $492.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $527.65.

Saia Price Performance

Shares of SAIA stock opened at $501.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $13.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.83, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.79. Saia has a 12 month low of $358.90 and a 12 month high of $628.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $503.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $460.41.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The transportation company reported $3.46 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 business had revenue of $842.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Saia will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Rohit Lal sold 1,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were 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 $4,631,200. This trade represents a 11.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAIA. State Street Corp increased its stake in 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 increased its position in shares of Saia by 10.2% in the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Saia by 1.4% during the third 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. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in Saia by 11.8% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 303,582 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $132,744,000 after acquiring an additional 31,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Saia by 64.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 250,626 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $109,589,000 after purchasing an additional 98,383 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.