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

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Separately, Stephens cut their target price on Rush Enterprises from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd.

Rush Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RUSHA opened at $51.74 on Friday. 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 has a 1 year low of $40.99 and a 1 year high of $65.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.25. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.88.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for 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, equities analysts anticipate that Rush Enterprises will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael L. Goldstone sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.10, for a total transaction of $234,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,510 shares in the company, valued at $651,771. The trade was a 26.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jason Wilder sold 483 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.39, for a total value of $27,236.37. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 85,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,816,833.80. The trade was a 0.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,731 shares of company stock valued at $303,634. 12.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 73.3% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 882,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,156,000 after buying an additional 373,531 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 5,379.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 334,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,345,000 after buying an additional 328,711 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth $10,628,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth $10,127,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises during the 1st quarter worth $9,667,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.43% of the company’s stock.

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.