Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of Saia from $288.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Saia from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Thursday, November 17th. Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Saia in a research note on Thursday, March 9th. Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Saia from $229.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Saia from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $286.82.

Saia Trading Down 3.8 %

SAIA stock opened at $267.82 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.52. Saia has a one year low of $168.03 and a one year high of $306.40. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $269.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The transportation company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.15). Saia had a return on equity of 24.73% and a net margin of 12.80%. The business had revenue of $655.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $652.12 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Saia will post 12.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Saia news, CEO Frederick J. Holzgrefe III sold 5,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.88, for a total value of $1,542,720.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,852,664.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Patrick D. Sugar sold 980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.53, for a total transaction of $287,659.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,603,317.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Frederick J. Holzgrefe III sold 5,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.88, for a total transaction of $1,542,720.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,852,664.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,004 shares of company stock valued at $11,137,223. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAIA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Saia by 157.4% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,500,405 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $658,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,140,625 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Saia in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,655,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Saia by 49.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 712,195 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $173,648,000 after acquiring an additional 236,105 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Saia by 149.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 365,633 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $76,666,000 after acquiring an additional 218,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Saia by 528.4% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 219,317 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,986,000 after acquiring an additional 184,418 shares in the last quarter.

About Saia

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Saia, Inc operates as a transportation holding company. The firm through its wholly-owned subsidiaries provides regional and interregional less-than-truckload (LTL) services through a single integrated organization. The firm also offers other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited and logistics services across North America.