Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Upgraded 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 research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Separately, Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Rush Enterprises from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

Rush Enterprises Trading Down 2.9%

NASDAQ RUSHA opened at $49.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $50.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.89. Rush Enterprises has a 12 month low of $40.99 and a 12 month high of $65.43.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. Rush Enterprises had a net margin of 3.90% and a return on equity of 14.76%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Rush Enterprises will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Rush Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.11%.

Insider Activity at Rush Enterprises

In other Rush Enterprises news, COO Jason Wilder sold 483 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.39, for a total transaction of $27,236.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 85,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,816,833.80. The trade was a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael L. Goldstone sold 4,500 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.10, for a total transaction of $234,450.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $651,771. The trade was a 26.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,731 shares of company stock worth $303,634 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RUSHA. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 82.2% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Rush Enterprises in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Rush Enterprises by 475.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Rush Enterprises by 121.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Rush Enterprises by 29.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 84.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.