Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Plans Dividend Increase - $0.19 Per Share

Key Points

• Rush Enterprises, Inc. has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, marking a 5.6% increase from the previous dividend of $0.18.
• The company has a dividend payout ratio of 17.3%, indicating that its dividend is well-supported by earnings.
• Rush Enterprises' stock has experienced significant trading activity, with a recent price of $54.14 and a market cap of $4.21 billion.

Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of 0.19 per share on Friday, September 12th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This is a 5.6% increase from Rush Enterprises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18.

Rush Enterprises has a payout ratio of 17.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Rush Enterprises to earn $4.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.6%.

Rush Enterprises Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ RUSHA traded down $0.59 on Friday, reaching $53.55. 680,442 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 396,214. Rush Enterprises has a fifty-two week low of $46.30 and a fifty-two week high of $65.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.85 and a 200 day moving average of $53.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.85.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.90 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Rush Enterprises will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 directly owned 12,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at $651,771. The trade was a 26.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jason Wilder sold 748 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.08, for a total value of $41,947.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 84,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,748,405.76. The trade was a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,731 shares of company stock worth $303,634 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.28% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Motco boosted its position in Rush Enterprises by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Motco now owns 316,803 shares of the company's stock worth $17,152,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Rush Enterprises by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 923,847 shares of the company's stock worth $47,587,000 after acquiring an additional 40,936 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Rush Enterprises by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 12,352 shares of the company's stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in Rush Enterprises by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 37,980 shares of the company's stock worth $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 2,941 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Rush Enterprises by 4,252.8% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 24,071 shares of the company's stock worth $1,240,000 after acquiring an additional 23,518 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.43% 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.