Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.00.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on RUSHA shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Rush Enterprises from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.67 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of Rush Enterprises in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Stephens increased their price target on Rush Enterprises from $40.00 to $42.22 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Rush Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Rush Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rush Enterprises

In other Rush Enterprises news, Director Michael McRoberts sold 14,625 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.20, for a total value of $529,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 36,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,321,644.52. This trade represents a 28.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO William M. Rusty Rush sold 161,041 shares of Rush Enterprises stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $5,801,054.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 391,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,115,163.69. The trade was a 29.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 252,561 shares of company stock worth $9,092,298. Company insiders own 12.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RUSHA. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Rush Enterprises during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rush Enterprises by 75.4% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises in the 1st quarter worth approximately $67,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises by 292.1% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.43% of the company’s stock.

Rush Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RUSHA opened at $46.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.74. Rush Enterprises has a fifty-two week low of $30.45 and a fifty-two week high of $55.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Rush Enterprises had a net margin of 3.67% and a return on equity of 11.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rush Enterprises will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a $0.14 dividend. This is a drop from Rush Enterprises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. Rush Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.34%.

About Rush Enterprises

Rush Enterprises, Inc is a commercial vehicle solutions provider that operates a network of truck dealerships under the Rush Truck Centers name. The company sells new and used commercial vehicles, including trucks and related equipment from manufacturers such as Peterbilt, International, Ford, Isuzu and Hino, serving customers in the trucking, construction, energy, public-sector and other industries.

In addition to vehicle sales, Rush Truck Centers provides aftermarket support through parts distribution, maintenance, repair and collision services.