Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,730,000 shares, an increase of 35.2% from the May 15th total of 1,280,000 shares. Approximately 6.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 801,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Saia Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SAIA opened at $265.61 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $284.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $389.14. Saia has a 1-year low of $229.12 and a 1-year high of $624.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 2.00.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The transportation company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.77 by ($0.91). The company had revenue of $787.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.18 million. Saia had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 16.63%. Saia's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Saia will post 15.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAIA. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Saia by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,939,615 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $883,941,000 after purchasing an additional 794,197 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Saia by 24,815.0% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 372,728 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $169,863,000 after buying an additional 371,232 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Saia by 35.4% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,206,837 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $421,705,000 after acquiring an additional 315,514 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Saia in the fourth quarter worth $137,199,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Saia by 11.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,831,614 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $989,452,000 after buying an additional 288,746 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Saia from $415.00 to $298.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Saia from $436.00 to $299.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective 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. Stephens lowered shares of Saia from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $515.00 to $255.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James set a $310.00 price target on shares of Saia and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $333.84.

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.

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