Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $480.11, but opened at $532.99. Saia shares last traded at $474.64, with a volume of 177,654 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Saia from $465.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Saia from $600.00 to $565.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Saia from $443.00 to $529.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Saia from $456.00 to $478.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Saia from $525.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.41.

Saia Stock Up 1.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $12.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $495.01 and its 200 day moving average is $461.63.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The transportation company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $789.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.69 million. Saia had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 18.00%. Saia’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Saia, Inc. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Rohit Lal sold 1,120 shares of Saia stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $627,200.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Saia

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Saia in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,227,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Saia by 920.7% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,450 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,636,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Saia by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 7,058 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,086,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Saia by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,588 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam bought a new stake in shares of Saia in the 3rd quarter valued at about $100,000.

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.