Is Saia (SAIA) a Good Investment Opportunity?

Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Small Cap Fund” first quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, its Investor Class fund ARTSX returned 7.60%, Advisor Class fund APDSX posted a return of 7.63%, and Institutional Class fund APHSX returned 7.62%, compared to a return of 6.07% for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. Both allocation and security selection drove the portfolio to outperform in the quarter. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.

Artisan Small Cap Fund highlighted stocks like Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) in the first quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Johns Creek, Georgia, Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) is a transportation company. On May 18, 2023, Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) stock closed at $282.04 per share. One-month return of Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) was 0.74%, and its shares gained 50.38% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) has a market capitalization of $7.483 billion.

Artisan Small Cap Fund made the following comment about Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:

“Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) operates in a relatively attractive transportation subsector, less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping, which features several solid franchises supported by real estate assets and network advantages. Saia has been opening new terminals across the Northeast, and its terminal count has increased from 151 at the end of 2016 to 187 as of Q4 2022. Now that the Northeast expansion is largely complete, Saia is entering a new phase of growth that should unlock additional operating leverage. In addition, we believe Saia has the virtuous opportunity to grow its delivery network at a healthy pace while realizing higher prices as this strengthened network results in higher quality service levels to customers. We are very cognizant of the slowing economy and the likelihood that the industry’s (and Saia’s) shipment volumes will decline in the coming quarters. But with signs of continued strong industry discipline around pricing, we decided to start a GardenSM position in what could be a solid long-term profit cycle.”

States with the Best Roads in America

Rasica/Shutterstock.com

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 20 hedge fund portfolios held Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 19 in the previous quarter.

We discussed Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) in another article and shared Artisan Partners’ views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

Suggested Articles:

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.