Strs Ohio Boosts Stake in Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)

Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,347 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Saia were worth $4,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SAIA. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Saia in the first quarter worth about $196,512,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in Saia by 68.1% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 802,094 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $319,755,000 after purchasing an additional 325,031 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Saia by 49.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 712,195 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $173,648,000 after purchasing an additional 236,105 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Saia by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 663,265 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $290,655,000 after purchasing an additional 230,058 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Saia by 149.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 365,633 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $76,666,000 after purchasing an additional 218,782 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on SAIA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Saia from $504.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Saia from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Saia from $475.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Saia from $500.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Saia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $484.00 to $526.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Saia has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $500.84.

Saia Stock Down 3.5 %

NASDAQ SAIA opened at $522.53 on Friday. Saia, Inc. has a 52 week low of $244.69 and a 52 week high of $628.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $573.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $474.35.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The transportation company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.13. Saia had a net margin of 12.31% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The company had revenue of $751.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Saia, Inc. will post 16.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Douglas L. Col sold 1,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.75, for a total transaction of $1,010,643.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 5,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,136,228.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Douglas L. Col sold 1,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.75, for a total transaction of $1,010,643.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 5,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,136,228.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Frederick J. Holzgrefe III sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.46, for a total transaction of $4,000,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,600,738.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,699 shares of company stock worth $14,966,813 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.