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

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,660,000 shares, a decline of 20.6% from the November 30th total of 2,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 366,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Saia news, EVP Rohit Lal sold 1,120 shares of Saia stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Saia during the second quarter valued at $41,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Saia in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Saia in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Tobam bought a new stake in Saia during the third quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Saia by 319.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 285 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on SAIA shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Saia from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Saia from $651.00 to $644.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens increased their price target on Saia from $481.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Saia from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Saia from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Saia has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $514.88.

Saia Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SAIA traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $475.31. The company had a trading volume of 151,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 383,958. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Saia has a 1 year low of $358.90 and a 1 year high of $628.34. The company has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $511.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $459.55.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The transportation company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $842.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.82 million. Saia had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 11.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Saia will post 13.51 earnings per share 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.