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

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Stephens reduced their price objective on 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 Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:RUSHA traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $53.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 470,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,953. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $50.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.04. Rush Enterprises has a 52 week low of $41.10 and a 52 week high of $65.43. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.01. Rush Enterprises had a return on equity of 13.82% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.86 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Rush Enterprises will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Rush Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Rush Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael L. Goldstone sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.10, for a total value of $234,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 12,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at $651,771. This represents a 26.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jason Wilder sold 748 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.08, for a total transaction of $41,947.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 84,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,748,405.76. This represents a 0.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,731 shares of company stock worth $303,634 in the last three months. 12.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rush Enterprises

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 82.2% in the 1st 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 last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises during the first quarter worth $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 475.0% in 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 raised its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises by 121.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Rush Enterprises by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the company's stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 84.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.