Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on RUSHA. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of Rush Enterprises in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Rush Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Rush Enterprises from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Rush Enterprises in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Rush Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.33.

Rush Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ RUSHA opened at $76.20 on Monday. Rush Enterprises has a 1-year low of $45.67 and a 1-year high of $76.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Rush Enterprises had a return on equity of 11.96% and a net margin of 3.55%. Sell-side analysts expect that Rush Enterprises will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Rush Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently 23.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Raymond Joseph Chess sold 10,000 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.05, for a total value of $650,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 41,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,678,108.50. The trade was a 19.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jody Pollard sold 11,250 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.92, for a total value of $809,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,385 shares in the company, valued at $243,449.20. The trade was a 76.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 33,750 shares of company stock worth $2,349,450 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RUSHA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 33.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 2,715 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 8.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 24,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 36,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 18.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 390,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,851,000 after acquiring an additional 60,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Rush Enterprises in the first quarter valued at $221,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.43% of the company’s stock.

Rush Enterprises Company Profile

Rush Enterprises, Inc, headquartered in New Braunfels, Texas, is a leading distributor of commercial vehicles and related products in the United States. Through its Rush Truck Centers subsidiary, the company sells new and used medium- and heavy-duty trucks, buses and specialty vehicles, while also offering factory-authorized parts, collision repair, maintenance and warranty support across its network of dealerships.

Founded in 1965, Rush Enterprises has grown to encompass more than 150 locations in over 20 states, partnering with major manufacturers including Kenworth, Peterbilt, Freightliner, Volvo and Mack.