Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

RUSHA has been the subject of several other reports. Stephens boosted their price objective on Rush Enterprises from $40.00 to $42.22 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Rush Enterprises from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered Rush Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.67 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of Rush Enterprises in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Rush Enterprises Trading Down 0.0%

RUSHA opened at $47.16 on Friday. Rush Enterprises has a 12-month low of $30.45 and a 12-month high of $55.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $47.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.01.

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

Rush Enterprises Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael Goldstone sold 5,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $194,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 28,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,020,401.49. This represents a 16.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael McRoberts sold 14,625 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 36,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,321,644.52. This trade represents a 28.60% decrease in their position. 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 three months. 12.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RUSHA. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Rush Enterprises by 75.4% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Rush Enterprises in the 1st quarter valued at about $67,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Rush Enterprises by 292.1% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 40.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. 84.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rush Enterprises Company Profile

Rush Enterprises, Inc is a commercial vehicle solutions provider that operates a network of truck dealerships under the Rush Truck Centers name. The company sells new and used commercial vehicles, including trucks and related equipment from manufacturers such as Peterbilt, International, Ford, Isuzu and Hino, serving customers in the trucking, construction, energy, public-sector and other industries.

In addition to vehicle sales, Rush Truck Centers provides aftermarket support through parts distribution, maintenance, repair and collision services.