Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Stock Rating Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

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

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

Rush Enterprises Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ RUSHA opened at $47.18 on Friday. Rush Enterprises has a twelve month low of $30.45 and a twelve month high of $55.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Rush Enterprises Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael McRoberts sold 14,625 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.20, for a total transaction of $529,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 36,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,321,644.52. The trade was a 28.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO William Rush sold 161,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total value of $5,801,054.69. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 391,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,115,163.69. This represents a 29.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 252,561 shares of company stock valued at $9,092,298 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Rush Enterprises by 4.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,430,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,426,000 after acquiring an additional 96,418 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 166.4% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,121,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,511 shares in the last quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 1,012,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,613,000 after purchasing an additional 173,096 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises by 83.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 724,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,920,000 after purchasing an additional 330,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 566,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,437,000 after purchasing an additional 49,009 shares during the last quarter. 84.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.