Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) released its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The transportation company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by ($0.05), Briefing.com reports. Saia had a net margin of 12.31% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The firm had revenue of $754.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $772.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Saia Stock Down 21.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SAIA traded down $114.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $428.81. 2,210,639 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 286,251. The company has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $568.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $478.98. Saia has a 52-week low of $247.63 and a 52-week high of $628.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SAIA. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Saia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $484.00 to $526.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Saia in a research note on Monday, March 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $676.00 target price for the company. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Saia from $565.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Saia from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Saia presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $500.84.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Raymond R. Ramu sold 1,943 shares of Saia stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.83, for a total transaction of $1,099,407.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,516,246.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Raymond R. Ramu sold 1,943 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.83, for a total value of $1,099,407.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,516,246.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Donna E. Epps sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.14, for a total transaction of $226,056.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $894,616.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,699 shares of company stock valued at $14,966,813 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.