Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Rush Enterprises from “hold” to “buy,” while analyst opinions remain mixed; the stock’s consensus rating is “Hold” with a $46.00 target price.
• Rush Enterprises reported quarterly EPS of $0.40, exceeding estimates of $0.38, while revenue reached $1.90 billion versus the $1.89 billion consensus.
• Company insiders sold approximately 252,561 shares worth $9.1 million over the past three months, while institutional investors own 84.43% of the stock.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

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

Rush Enterprises Stock Up 2.1%

RUSHA stock opened at $47.18 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.81. Rush Enterprises has a 12 month low of $30.45 and a 12 month high of $55.74. The company has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Rush Enterprises had a net margin of 3.67% and a return on equity of 11.65%. Sell-side analysts expect that Rush Enterprises will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Rush Enterprises news, CFO Steven L. Keller sold 46,525 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.88, for a total value of $1,669,317.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 189,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,811,495.08. The trade was a 19.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO William M. Rusty Rush sold 161,041 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 391,846 shares in the company, valued at $14,115,163.69. The trade was a 29.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 252,561 shares of company stock valued at $9,092,298. 12.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rush Enterprises

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 54.7% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,430,986 shares of the company's stock worth $177,426,000 after acquiring an additional 96,418 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 31,334 shares of the company's stock worth $2,287,000 after acquiring an additional 3,005 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises by 113.5% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 20,200 shares of the company's stock worth $1,474,000 after acquiring an additional 10,739 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Rush Enterprises in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 84.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Rush Enterprises

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.

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