Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $479.07.

SAIA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Saia from $416.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Saia from $575.00 to $515.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Saia from $500.00 to $480.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Saia from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Saia from $443.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th.

Saia Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of SAIA stock opened at $431.28 on Friday. Saia has a 1 year low of $341.26 and a 1 year high of $628.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $410.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $458.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The transportation company reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $823.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.60 million. Saia had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 19.14%. As a group, research analysts expect that Saia will post 13.91 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Saia

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Saia by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,505,108 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,465,488,000 after buying an additional 15,605 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Saia by 16.2% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,069,332 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $625,559,000 after purchasing an additional 149,074 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 22,143 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Saia by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 817,411 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $358,206,000 after purchasing an additional 15,317 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Saia by 6.8% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 708,420 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $414,425,000 after purchasing an additional 45,155 shares in 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.