Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 5,639 Shares of Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in shares of Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 73,939 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 5,639 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.28% of Saia worth $33,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Saia in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Saia during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Saia by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Saia by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 201 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI bought a new stake in Saia in the fourth quarter worth $154,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Saia news, CEO Frederick J. Holzgrefe III sold 7,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.34, for a total transaction of $3,671,619.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 17,645 shares in the company, valued at $8,599,114.30. This represents a 29.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick D. Sugar sold 799 shares of Saia stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.74, for a total value of $394,498.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,629 shares in the company, valued at $4,260,482.46. This represents a 8.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,493 shares of company stock valued at $4,646,181 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Saia in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Saia from $544.00 to $498.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Saia in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Saia from $566.00 to $558.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Saia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $524.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $526.39.

Saia Stock Performance

Saia stock opened at $352.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $443.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.45. Saia, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $342.68 and a fifty-two week high of $624.55.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The transportation company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.03). Saia had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm had revenue of $789.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.69 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Saia, Inc. will post 15.46 earnings per share for the current year.

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.