Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Upgraded by Susquehanna to "Positive" Rating

Key Points

• Saia has been upgraded by Susquehanna from a "neutral" to a "positive" rating, with a new target price of $360.00, suggesting a 17.55% potential upside.
• Recent earnings reported $2.67 EPS, exceeding expectations, but revenue decreased by 0.7% compared to the previous year.
• Overall, Saia has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with an average price target of $348.21 from various analysts.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Susquehanna from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $360.00 price objective on the transportation company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $340.00. Susquehanna's price target would suggest a potential upside of 13.92% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on Saia and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Saia from $290.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wolfe Research raised Saia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Saia from $295.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on Saia from $325.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $347.16.

Saia Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Saia stock traded up $3.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $316.00. 279,022 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 639,191. Saia has a 1-year low of $229.12 and a 1-year high of $624.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 2.00. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $301.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $304.86.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The transportation company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.28. Saia had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 8.96%.The business had revenue of $817.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $826.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. Saia's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Saia will post 15.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Saia

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Saia by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,831,614 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $989,452,000 after purchasing an additional 288,746 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Saia by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,275,661 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $795,184,000 after purchasing an additional 336,046 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Saia by 35.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 315,514 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in shares of Saia in the 2nd quarter worth about $226,770,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Saia by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 825,687 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $226,230,000 after acquiring an additional 166,486 shares during the period.

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.