Stephens Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Stock Price

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) had its price target lowered by research analysts at Stephens from $60.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Stephens‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 30.94% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on RUSHA. 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 note on Tuesday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Rush Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of Rush Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rush Enterprises in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rush Enterprises has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.26.

Rush Enterprises Price Performance

NASDAQ:RUSHA opened at $42.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.92. Rush Enterprises has a 12-month low of $30.45 and a 12-month high of $55.74.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.01. Rush Enterprises had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 3.67%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Rush Enterprises will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Rush Enterprises

In other Rush Enterprises news, SVP Michael Goldstone sold 4,725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.13, for a total transaction of $170,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 28,327 shares in the company, valued at $1,023,548.93. This trade represents a 14.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven Keller sold 46,525 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 189,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,811,495.08. This represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 243,062 shares of company stock valued at $8,749,995. Corporate insiders own 12.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rush Enterprises

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RUSHA. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $776,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 124.1% in the first quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 143,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,495,000 after buying an additional 79,535 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 83.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 724,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,920,000 after buying an additional 330,553 shares in the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Rush Enterprises in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,655,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 27.3% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 72,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,818,000 after buying an additional 15,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.43% of the company’s stock.

About Rush Enterprises

Rush Enterprises, Inc is a commercial vehicle solutions provider operating through the Rush Truck Centers network. The company sells new and used commercial trucks, including vehicles from manufacturers such as Peterbilt, International, Hino, Isuzu and Ford, along with related buses and specialty vehicles in selected markets.

In addition to vehicle sales, Rush provides parts, maintenance and repair services through its dealership network. Its offerings also include truck leasing and rentals, collision repair, mobile service, aftermarket products, and fleet-management and technology solutions designed to support commercial transportation operators.

Founded in 1965 and headquartered in New Braunfels, Texas, Rush has expanded from its original Peterbilt dealership into one of the largest commercial vehicle dealership networks in the United States.