Short Interest in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Drops By 16.5%

Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,830,000 shares, a decline of 16.5% from the December 15th total of 3,390,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 367,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.7 days.

Rush Enterprises Stock Performance

RUSHA stock traded up $0.03 on Friday, hitting $60.13. The company had a trading volume of 347,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 287,507. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.71. Rush Enterprises has a 12-month low of $40.99 and a 12-month high of $65.15.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Rush Enterprises had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Rush Enterprises will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Rush Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently 19.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Rush Enterprises from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Transactions at Rush Enterprises

In other news, CFO Steven L. Keller sold 14,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total transaction of $855,562.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,876,852.50. The trade was a 14.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William M. Rusty Rush sold 117,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $7,517,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,142,372.92. The trade was a 40.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 176,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,167,173. 12.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Rush Enterprises in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises by 266.1% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 147.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 787 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Rush Enterprises during the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Rush Enterprises during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.43% of the company’s stock.

Rush Enterprises Company Profile

Rush Enterprises, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retailer of commercial vehicles and related services in the United States and Canada. The company operates a network of commercial vehicle dealerships under the Rush Truck Centers name. Its Rush Truck Centers primarily sell commercial vehicles manufactured by Peterbilt, International, Hino, Ford, Isuzu, IC Bus, Blue Bird, and Dennis Eagle.