Mariner LLC Buys 180 Shares of Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)

Mariner LLC grew its stake in shares of Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,822 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Saia were worth $831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SAIA. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Saia by 69.3% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,939,615 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $883,941,000 after acquiring an additional 794,197 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Saia during the 4th quarter worth $64,410,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Saia by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 249,782 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $113,833,000 after buying an additional 105,356 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Saia during the 4th quarter worth $46,514,000. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Saia during the 4th quarter worth $45,767,000.

Saia Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ SAIA opened at $237.11 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.99. Saia, Inc. has a 52-week low of $229.21 and a 52-week high of $624.55. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $358.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $447.63.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The transportation company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by ($0.91). Saia had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company had revenue of $787.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Saia, Inc. will post 15.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Saia

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Batteh sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.09, for a total transaction of $350,063.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 3,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,663,299.34. The trade was a 17.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick D. Sugar sold 799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.74, for a total transaction of $394,498.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,629 shares in the company, valued at $4,260,482.46. The trade was a 8.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,493 shares of company stock worth $4,646,181 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SAIA. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Saia from $415.00 to $298.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Saia in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Saia from $400.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Saia from $436.00 to $299.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Saia from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $455.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Saia presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.37.

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.