Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Shares Down 2.9% on Disappointing Earnings

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)’s share price was down 2.9% on Monday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $415.12 and last traded at $416.41. Approximately 145,897 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 311,476 shares. The stock had previously closed at $428.81.

The transportation company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $754.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $772.36 million. Saia had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 12.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.85 earnings per share.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SAIA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Saia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $484.00 to $526.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James raised their price target on Saia from $565.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Saia from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Saia from $575.00 to $490.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Saia from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $481.50.

Insider Transactions at Saia

In other news, VP Rohit Lal sold 2,870 shares of Saia stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.55, for a total value of $1,539,898.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,551,017.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Saia news, VP Rohit Lal sold 2,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.55, for a total transaction of $1,539,898.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,551,017.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Donna E. Epps sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.14, for a total value of $226,056.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,583 shares in the company, valued at $894,616.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,699 shares of company stock valued at $14,966,813. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saia

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAIA. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Saia by 129.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 920,258 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $403,275,000 after acquiring an additional 519,819 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Saia during the fourth quarter worth $201,117,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Saia by 68.1% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 802,094 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $319,755,000 after purchasing an additional 325,031 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Saia by 53.1% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 663,265 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $290,655,000 after purchasing an additional 230,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Saia by 65.9% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 211,673 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $92,759,000 after buying an additional 84,046 shares during the period.

Saia Stock Down 4.6 %

The company has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $563.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $479.90.

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.