Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Shares Up 5.4% – Should You Buy?

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) rose 5.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $559.18 and last traded at $558.74. Approximately 227,640 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 385,283 shares. The stock had previously closed at $530.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Saia from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Saia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $440.00 to $437.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Saia in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Saia from $503.00 to $488.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Saia from $416.00 to $418.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.00.

Saia Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $470.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $439.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.73.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The transportation company reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.53 by ($0.07). Saia had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $842.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Saia, Inc. will post 13.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saia

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Saia by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 232 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Saia by 6.6% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 386 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Saia by 3.5% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 770 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Saia by 3.9% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Saia by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 770 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during 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.