Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $612.00 to $600.00. The stock had previously closed at $493.04, but opened at $481.67. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Saia shares last traded at $482.27, with a volume of 25,603 shares changing hands.

SAIA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Saia from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $511.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Saia from $465.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays upped their target price on Saia from $515.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Saia from $499.00 to $566.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Saia from $492.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $523.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Saia

In other news, EVP Rohit Lal sold 1,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $627,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,270 shares in the company, valued at $4,631,200. The trade was a 11.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saia

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAIA. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Saia in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,408,000. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Saia by 89.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,313 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,041 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Saia in the third quarter valued at about $22,979,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Saia by 61.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,698 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Saia by 6.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 68,474 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $31,633,000 after acquiring an additional 3,886 shares during the period.

Saia Stock Down 1.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $12.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.79. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $508.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $459.77.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The transportation company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.53 by ($0.07). Saia had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The company had revenue of $842.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $839.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Saia, Inc. will post 13.49 EPS for the current year.

Saia Company Profile

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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