Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Short Interest Down 16.5% in December

Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) saw a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,830,000 shares, a drop of 16.5% from the December 15th total of 3,390,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 367,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.7 days.

Rush Enterprises Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RUSHA opened at $60.10 on Friday. Rush Enterprises has a 12-month low of $40.99 and a 12-month high of $65.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $58.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.02. Rush Enterprises had a net margin of 3.93% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Rush Enterprises will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Rush Enterprises’s payout ratio is currently 19.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens boosted their price objective on Rush Enterprises from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rush Enterprises

In related news, CEO William M. Rusty Rush sold 117,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $7,517,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 174,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,142,372.92. The trade was a 40.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven L. Keller sold 43,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.68, for a total value of $2,793,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 83,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,308,683.20. This trade represents a 34.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 176,000 shares of company stock worth $11,167,173 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dean Investment Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises during the third quarter worth approximately $1,986,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,186,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,677,000 after buying an additional 138,488 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Rush Enterprises in the 2nd quarter valued at $478,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rush Enterprises in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,523,000. Finally, Tensile Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Rush Enterprises during the third quarter worth $1,815,000. 84.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rush Enterprises Company Profile

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.