Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) Stock Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Saia “Moderate Buy”: Of 21 firms covering the stock, 14 recommend buying, six say hold, and one says sell. Their average 12-month price target is $432.26.
• Recent quarterly results beat expectations: Saia reported earnings of $3.41 per share versus the $3.30 consensus and revenue of $982.45 million versus expectations of $966.98 million. Revenue rose 17% year over year.
• SAIA opened at $353.18, below its 50-day moving average of $341.96? Wait, it is above that average but below its 200-day average of $387.47; the stock’s 52-week range is $249.32–$494.71.

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $432.26.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SAIA shares. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Saia in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Saia from $504.00 to $430.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 30th. Barclays cut their price target on Saia from $500.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Saia from $429.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Saia in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $439.00 target price for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saia

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Saia during the second quarter valued at approximately $140,979,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Saia in the 2nd quarter valued at $109,089,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Saia by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,545,731 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,072,160,000 after acquiring an additional 156,628 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Saia during the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,757,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Saia during the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,200,000.

Saia Stock Performance

SAIA stock opened at $353.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The company has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 2.09. Saia has a 1 year low of $249.32 and a 1 year high of $494.71. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $341.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $387.47.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $3.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.11. Saia had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 8.01%. The firm had revenue of $982.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $966.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.81 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Saia will post 11.51 earnings per share for the current year.

About Saia

Saia, Inc is a transportation and logistics company headquartered in Johns Creek, Georgia. Through its primary subsidiary, Saia LTL Freight, the company provides less-than-truckload transportation, moving palletized and other freight shipments that do not require a full trailer. Its services include standard and time-definite delivery, expedited transportation, guaranteed services, and shipment tracking.

Saia also provides non-asset-based logistics services through Saia Logistics Services, which helps customers arrange freight transportation using third-party carriers.

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