Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Given New $455.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $560.00 to $455.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 37.48% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on SAIA. UBS Group dropped their price target on Saia from $557.00 to $422.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Saia from $540.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Saia from $565.00 to $484.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Saia from $510.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Saia in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Saia has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $486.83.

Saia Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SAIA traded up $7.90 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $330.97. The company had a trading volume of 66,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 444,808. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $406.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $459.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Saia has a fifty-two week low of $287.50 and a fifty-two week high of $624.55.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 analyst estimates of $794.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Saia will post 15.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick D. Sugar sold 799 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.74, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 8.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Frederick J. Holzgrefe III sold 7,534 shares of Saia stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,599,114.30. The trade was a 29.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Saia

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SAIA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Saia by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 744 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Saia by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Saia by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,685 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,502,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Saia by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 678 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Saia by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,707 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter.

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.