Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Trading 5.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) shares shot up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $559.18 and last traded at $558.74. 227,640 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 385,283 shares. The stock had previously closed at $530.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SAIA. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Saia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $440.00 to $437.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Saia in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Saia from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens lifted their target price on Saia from $481.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on Saia from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.00.

Saia Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $14.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $467.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $438.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The transportation company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by ($0.07). Saia had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 18.00%. 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 business earned $3.67 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Saia, Inc. will post 13.54 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saia

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Saia by 99.8% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Saia in the 1st quarter worth approximately $588,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Saia in the first quarter valued at approximately $198,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Saia during the first quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Saia during the first quarter worth $1,106,000.

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.