Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $348.0526.

SAIA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $306.00 price target (up previously from $277.00) on shares of Saia in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Saia in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Saia from $345.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Saia from $305.00 to $374.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Saia from $393.00 to $373.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 10th.

Saia Trading Up 4.0%

NASDAQ:SAIA opened at $309.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 2.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $302.20 and its 200 day moving average is $297.46. Saia has a 12 month low of $229.12 and a 12 month high of $624.55.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The transportation company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $817.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $826.59 million. Saia had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 12.42%. Saia’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Saia will post 15.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Saia by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 455 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Praxis Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Saia during the 3rd quarter valued at $210,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in Saia by 403.3% during the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 181,583 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,752,000 after acquiring an additional 145,506 shares during the period. Hilltop Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Saia by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cim Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Saia during the 2nd quarter valued at $134,000.

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.