Wolfe Research Lowers Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) to Peer Perform

Wolfe Research cut shares of Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on SAIA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Saia in a report on Monday, March 11th. They issued an overweight rating and a $676.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Saia from $398.00 to $446.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Saia from a buy rating to a hold rating and lifted their price target for the company from $484.00 to $526.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Saia from $500.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on Saia from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Saia currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $491.16.

Saia Stock Performance

SAIA opened at $577.72 on Thursday. Saia has a one year low of $244.69 and a one year high of $628.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $572.64 and its 200-day moving average is $470.65. The company has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a PE ratio of 43.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.62.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The transportation company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $751.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.48 million. Saia had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 12.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Saia will post 16.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard D. Odell sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.75, for a total value of $5,367,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,214,595.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Donna E. Epps sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.14, for a total transaction of $226,056.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $894,616.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard D. Odell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.75, for a total value of $5,367,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,989 shares in the company, valued at $3,214,595.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,699 shares of company stock worth $14,966,813. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAIA. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Saia during the 1st quarter worth $196,512,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Saia by 129.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 920,258 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $403,275,000 after buying an additional 519,819 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Saia during the 4th quarter worth $201,117,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Saia by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 802,094 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $319,755,000 after buying an additional 325,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Saia by 49.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 712,195 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $173,648,000 after purchasing an additional 236,105 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.