Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $349.29, but opened at $359.52. Saia shares last traded at $348.31, with a volume of 9,451 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on SAIA shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Saia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $524.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Saia from $566.00 to $558.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Saia from $544.00 to $498.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Saia from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Saia in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $526.39.

Saia Stock Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $9.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $443.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.45.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The transportation company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $789.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.69 million. Saia had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Saia, Inc. will post 15.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Saia

In related news, CEO Frederick J. Holzgrefe III sold 7,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.34, for a total value of $3,671,619.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,599,114.30. The trade was a 29.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Kelly W. Benton sold 460 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,143,500. The trade was a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,493 shares of company stock valued at $4,646,181. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Saia during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,408,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE purchased a new position in shares of Saia during the 4th quarter worth about $1,324,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Saia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,363,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Saia by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 226,137 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $103,057,000 after buying an additional 4,972 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Saia by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,804 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,101,000 after buying an additional 788 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.