Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Takes Position in Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 141 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SAIA. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Saia by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,553 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,619,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Saia in the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,410,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Saia by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 60 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Saia by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,522,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,149,779,000 after purchasing an additional 25,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Saia by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 25,381 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,567,000 after purchasing an additional 4,679 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SAIA shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Saia from $565.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Saia from $566.00 to $558.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Saia from $540.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Saia from $560.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Saia from $535.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.72.

Saia Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SAIA opened at $370.82 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.89. Saia, Inc. has a 1-year low of $342.68 and a 1-year high of $624.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $423.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $463.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The transportation company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.03). Saia had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 11.28%. The firm had revenue of $789.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.33 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Saia, Inc. will post 15.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Saia

In other Saia news, EVP Patrick D. Sugar sold 799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.74, for a total value of $394,498.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,629 shares in the company, valued at $4,260,482.46. This represents a 8.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Frederick J. Holzgrefe III sold 7,534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.34, for a total transaction of $3,671,619.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,599,114.30. This trade represents a 29.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,493 shares of company stock valued at $4,646,181 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.