Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Rush Enterprises from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered Rush Enterprises from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stephens upped their price target on Rush Enterprises from $40.00 to $42.22 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $56.67 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of Rush Enterprises in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

Rush Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of RUSHA opened at $44.52 on Friday. Rush Enterprises has a 1-year low of $30.45 and a 1-year high of $55.74. The stock has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last released 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. Rush Enterprises had a net margin of 3.67% and a return on equity of 11.65%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Rush Enterprises will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Rush Enterprises Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a drop from Rush Enterprises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Rush Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio is 25.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rush Enterprises

In other Rush Enterprises news, Director Michael McRoberts sold 14,625 shares of the business’s 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 owned 36,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,321,644.52. The trade was a 28.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven Keller sold 46,525 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, 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 three months, insiders have sold 252,561 shares of company stock worth $9,092,298. 12.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Rush Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $776,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 124.1% in the 1st quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 143,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,495,000 after purchasing an additional 79,535 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 83.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 724,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,920,000 after purchasing an additional 330,553 shares during the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Rush Enterprises in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,655,000. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of Rush Enterprises in the 1st quarter valued at $11,286,000. 84.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.