Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Increases Position in Rush Enterprises, Inc. $RUSHA

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in Rush Enterprises by 109.8% in Q1, now owning 15,774 shares valued at approximately $842,000.
• American Century Companies Inc. significantly boosted its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 423.4% during the same quarter, reflecting a growing interest from institutional investors.
• Rush Enterprises announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.19 per share, up from $0.18, with a dividend yield of 1.3%.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA - Free Report) by 109.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,774 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,256 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Rush Enterprises were worth $842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $398,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Rush Enterprises by 121.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,123 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Rush Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at $550,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 785,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,026,000 after acquiring an additional 43,437 shares during the period. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rush Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at $1,023,000. 84.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RUSHA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Rush Enterprises from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Rush Enterprises in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $61.00.

Rush Enterprises Stock Down 0.8%

RUSHA traded down $0.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.40. The stock had a trading volume of 230,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 325,211. Rush Enterprises, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.30 and a twelve month high of $65.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.33. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.85.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. Rush Enterprises had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 13.29%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Rush Enterprises, Inc. will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Rush Enterprises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Rush Enterprises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Rush Enterprises's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rush Enterprises

In other news, COO Jason Wilder sold 4,980 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.55, for a total transaction of $276,639.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 79,692 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,426,890.60. The trade was a 5.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael Mcroberts sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.64, for a total transaction of $327,840.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $861,727.44. This represents a 27.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,480 shares of company stock valued at $862,104. Corporate insiders own 12.28% of the company's stock.

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.