Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Separately, Stephens decreased their price objective on Rush Enterprises from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

Rush Enterprises Stock Down 0.4%

RUSHA traded down $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $51.51. The stock had a trading volume of 638,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 395,886. The stock's 50 day moving average is $50.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.89. Rush Enterprises has a one year low of $40.99 and a one year high of $65.43.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 1.9% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,218,650 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,499,000 after buying an additional 41,407 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 6.5% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,302,218 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,552,000 after buying an additional 79,499 shares during the last quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC boosted its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 1,073,567 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,821,000 after buying an additional 5,823 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 73.3% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 882,911 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,156,000 after buying an additional 373,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 12.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 879,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,977,000 after buying an additional 94,271 shares during the last quarter. 84.43% of the stock is 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.