Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Evercore ISI Analyst Says

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has raised its price target for Saia stock from $297.00 to $345.00, maintaining an "outperform" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 3.41% from the previous close.
• Other analysts also provided updates, with Wolfe Research upgrading Saia to a "strong buy" while Barclays set a higher price target of $350.00, reflecting positive market sentiment.
• Saia's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations with reported earnings per share of $2.67, beating analysts' consensus estimate by $0.28, although revenue decreased by 0.7% from the same quarter last year.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from $297.00 to $345.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the transportation company's stock. Evercore ISI's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 3.41% from the stock's previous close.

SAIA has been the subject of several other research reports. Wolfe Research raised Saia from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Saia from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Barclays set a $350.00 price target on Saia in a report on Monday. Susquehanna raised their price target on Saia from $275.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Stephens downgraded Saia from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $515.00 to $255.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $334.11.

Saia Stock Performance

Shares of Saia stock opened at $333.61 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Saia has a 12 month low of $229.12 and a 12 month high of $624.55. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $278.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $347.31.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The transportation company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.28. Saia had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 8.96%. The company had revenue of $817.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $826.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Saia will post 15.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Saia

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Saia by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 2,614 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Saia during the fourth quarter worth about $544,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Saia by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 25,381 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $11,567,000 after purchasing an additional 4,679 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Saia by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 60 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Saia during the fourth quarter worth about $64,410,000.

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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