Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.00.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens increased their price objective on Rush Enterprises from $40.00 to $42.22 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Rush Enterprises from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Rush Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Rush Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $56.67 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of Rush Enterprises in a report on Tuesday, August 25th.

Insider Activity

In other Rush Enterprises news, CFO Steven Keller sold 46,525 shares of Rush Enterprises 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Goldstone sold 4,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.13, for a total value of $170,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 28,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,023,548.93. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 252,561 shares of company stock valued at $9,092,298 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RUSHA. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Rush Enterprises by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,430,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,426,000 after buying an additional 96,418 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 166.4% during the 1st 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. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 1,012,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,613,000 after acquiring an additional 173,096 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises by 83.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 724,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,920,000 after acquiring an additional 330,553 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 566,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,437,000 after acquiring an additional 49,009 shares during the period. 84.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rush Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RUSHA opened at $46.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 1.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $46.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.48. The stock has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.88. Rush Enterprises has a one year low of $30.45 and a one year high of $55.74.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. Rush Enterprises had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 3.67%.The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Rush Enterprises will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is a decrease from Rush Enterprises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. Rush Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.34%.

About Rush Enterprises

Rush Enterprises, Inc operates Rush Truck Centers, a network of commercial vehicle dealerships serving the transportation and related industries in the United States. The company sells new and used heavy- and medium-duty trucks, including vehicles from manufacturers such as Peterbilt, International, Isuzu, Ford and IC Bus.

In addition to vehicle sales, Rush Truck Centers provides aftermarket support through parts distribution, maintenance and repair services, mobile service, collision repair, equipment leasing and rental, and other solutions designed to support commercial fleets.