Wall Street Zen Upgrades Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) to “Buy”

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday.

Separately, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Rush Enterprises in a report on Monday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Rush Enterprises has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Rush Enterprises Trading Down 1.9%

RUSHA stock opened at $56.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.28. Rush Enterprises has a 52 week low of $47.06 and a 52 week high of $65.43.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Rush Enterprises had a return on equity of 13.29% and a net margin of 3.73%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Rush Enterprises will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Rush Enterprises Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Rush Enterprises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Rush Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.65%.

Insider Activity

In other Rush Enterprises news, SVP Michael L. Goldstone sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.25, for a total value of $257,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,510 shares in the company, valued at $716,197.50. This represents a 26.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jason Wilder sold 4,980 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.55, for a total transaction of $276,639.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 79,692 shares in the company, valued at $4,426,890.60. This represents a 5.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,480 shares of company stock worth $862,104. 12.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Rush Enterprises by 82.2% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 481 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rush Enterprises during the first quarter worth about $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 427.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 781 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 26.7% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 29.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 84.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.