Stephens Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA)

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by analysts at Stephens in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price target on the stock. Stephens’ price target indicates a potential upside of 31.64% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com cut Rush Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 1st.

Rush Enterprises Stock Performance

Shares of RUSHA traded down $3.65 on Wednesday, reaching $45.58. 159,960 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 373,376. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Rush Enterprises has a 12 month low of $33.37 and a 12 month high of $53.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.81.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter. Rush Enterprises had a return on equity of 18.44% and a net margin of 4.38%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Rush Enterprises will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jody Pollard sold 11,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.28, for a total transaction of $543,150.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,073.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Rush Enterprises by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,915,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,359,000 after acquiring an additional 2,274,689 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 49.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,193,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,863,000 after purchasing an additional 2,041,125 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,581,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,003 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,531,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,343,000 after purchasing an additional 744,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,954,000. 84.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.