UPDATE: Cowen Securities Raises PT on SAIA on Cost Saving Initiatives

In a report published by Cowen Securities, analyst Jason H. Seidl reiterated his Buy rating and raises price target from $35.00 to $39.00 on

. Cowen Securities reported that, “ When SAIA conducted its 4Q conference call, management noted that tonnage for January was tracking down 3.1%, but a strong finish to the month left them down only 2.8%. The company recently indicated that the positive momentum continued into February, which was down just 1.5%. While it is too early to call for positive tonnage trends in 1Q, it is conceivable that we could see mild gains in 2Q. On the pricing front, SAIA continues to get 3-4% on its contractual business, which should help the company offset most of its anticipated cost increases. We note that pricing action and productivity initiatives over the past couple of years have enabled the company to improve its operating ratio y/y for eight consecutive quarters, and we are modeling for this to continue in 1Q13 and the full year.” Shares of SAIA closed at $32.35 on Tuesday.