Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,010,000 shares, a growth of 19.4% from the November 30th total of 845,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 247,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.
In related news, Director Di-Ann Eisnor sold 400 shares of Saia stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.91, for a total transaction of $140,764.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Raymond R. Ramu sold 1,010 shares of Saia stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.27, for a total value of $346,702.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,591 shares of company stock valued at $884,873 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Saia by 2.3% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,155 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. CWM Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Saia by 3.1% during the second quarter. CWM Advisors LLC now owns 1,782 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp increased its holdings in shares of Saia by 21.9% during the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 339 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Saia by 3.8% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,795 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cim LLC increased its holdings in shares of Saia by 4.9% during the third quarter. Cim LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter.
Shares of SAIA opened at $282.78 on Friday. Saia has a one year low of $171.16 and a one year high of $365.50. The company has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $330.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $269.17.
Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 28th. The transportation company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.51. Saia had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 20.78%. The business had revenue of $616.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $576.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Saia will post 9.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SAIA shares. Truist boosted their price objective on Saia from $255.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 29th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Saia from $380.00 to $390.00 in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Saia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $366.00 to $363.00 in a report on Monday, November 29th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Wolfe Research upgraded Saia from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 5th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Saia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $272.00 to $352.00 in a research report on Friday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $315.25.
About Saia
Saia, Inc operates as a transportation holding company. The firm through its wholly-owned subsidiaries provides regional and interregional less-than-truckload (LTL) services through a single integrated organization. The firm also offers other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited and logistics services across North America.