William Blair Investment Management LLC Purchases 560,138 Shares of Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA)

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) by 239.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 794,375 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 560,138 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Rush Enterprises were worth $42,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RUSHA. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 61.6% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 609,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,892,000 after buying an additional 232,460 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 36,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after buying an additional 12,256 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises by 49.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,915,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274,689 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises by 49.9% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 174,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,115,000 after purchasing an additional 58,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at $1,046,000. 84.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rush Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of RUSHA stock traded down $0.80 on Wednesday, reaching $48.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 513,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 349,355. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.33. Rush Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.68 and a 1 year high of $53.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.02.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter. Rush Enterprises had a net margin of 4.16% and a return on equity of 17.16%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Rush Enterprises, Inc. will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Rush Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stephens began coverage on shares of Rush Enterprises in a report on Monday, July 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company.

Insider Transactions at Rush Enterprises

In other news, SVP Jason Wilder sold 11,250 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.23, for a total transaction of $520,087.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 534 shares in the company, valued at $24,686.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 12.53% of the company’s stock.

About Rush Enterprises

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.