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

Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of 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 volume of 367,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William M. Rusty Rush sold 117,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $7,517,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 174,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,142,372.92. This represents a 40.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven L. Keller sold 14,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total value of $855,562.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,876,852.50. The trade was a 14.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 176,000 shares of company stock worth $11,167,173. Insiders own 12.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rush Enterprises

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises in the second quarter worth $36,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Rush Enterprises by 266.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 147.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 787 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Rush Enterprises in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises in the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. 84.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rush Enterprises Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ RUSHA traded up $0.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $60.10. The stock had a trading volume of 314,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 287,244. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.02. Rush Enterprises has a fifty-two week low of $40.99 and a fifty-two week high of $65.15. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $58.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.53.

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

Rush Enterprises Dividend Announcement

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

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.