Rush Enterprises, Inc. (RUSHA) – What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.00.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Rush Enterprises from $40.00 to $42.22 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.67 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of Rush Enterprises in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rush Enterprises in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Rush Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, October 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Rush Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Rush Enterprises

In other news, Director Michael McRoberts sold 14,625 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.20, for a total value of $529,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 36,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,321,644.52. This represents a 28.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven L. Keller sold 46,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.88, for a total value of $1,669,317.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 189,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,811,495.08. The trade was a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 252,561 shares of company stock valued at $9,092,298 over the last three months. 12.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,430,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,426,000 after acquiring an additional 96,418 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 166.4% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,121,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,511 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 83.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 724,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,920,000 after acquiring an additional 330,553 shares during the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 608,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,856,000 after purchasing an additional 227,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Rush Enterprises by 9.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 566,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,437,000 after purchasing an additional 49,009 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.43% of the company’s stock.

Rush Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of RUSHA opened at $44.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.38. Rush Enterprises has a one year low of $30.45 and a one year high of $55.74. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.54.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Rush Enterprises had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 3.67%. As a group, analysts expect that Rush Enterprises will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Rush Enterprises Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a drop from Rush Enterprises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. Rush Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.34%.

About Rush Enterprises

Rush Enterprises, Inc is a commercial vehicle solutions provider operating through the Rush Truck Centers network. The company sells new and used commercial trucks, including vehicles from manufacturers such as Peterbilt, International, Hino, Isuzu and Ford, along with related buses and specialty vehicles in selected markets.

In addition to vehicle sales, Rush provides parts, maintenance and repair services through its dealership network. Its offerings also include truck leasing and rentals, collision repair, mobile service, aftermarket products, and fleet-management and technology solutions designed to support commercial transportation operators.

Founded in 1965 and headquartered in New Braunfels, Texas, Rush has expanded from its original Peterbilt dealership into one of the largest commercial vehicle dealership networks in the United States.