BNP Paribas Financial Markets Boosts Position in Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA - Free Report) by 2,373.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 91,468 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 87,770 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.34% of Saia worth $41,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SAIA. Highview Capital Management LLC DE bought a new position in Saia in the fourth quarter worth $1,324,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Saia in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,363,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Saia by 2.2% during 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 last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Saia by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,804 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,101,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Saia by 100.6% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 1,565 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Saia from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $455.00 to $285.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Saia from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $251.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James set a $310.00 target price on shares of Saia and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Saia in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Saia from $422.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Saia currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $342.58.

Saia Price Performance

Shares of Saia stock traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $291.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 185,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 648,742. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $328.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $434.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 2.03. Saia, Inc. has a one year low of $229.12 and a one year high of $624.55.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The transportation company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.77 by ($0.91). The company had revenue of $787.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $806.18 million. Saia had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Saia, Inc. will post 15.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Kelly W. Benton sold 460 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,143,500. This represents a 9.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Batteh sold 700 shares of Saia stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.09, for a total transaction of $350,063.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 3,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,663,299.34. This represents a 17.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.