Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,549,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RUSHA. Comerica Bank boosted its position in Rush Enterprises by 66,200.0% during the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 891.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 1,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in Rush Enterprises by 543.8% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Rush Enterprises by 50.0% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on RUSHA shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Rush Enterprises in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Rush Enterprises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 1st.

Rush Enterprises Price Performance

RUSHA stock opened at $48.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 1.35. Rush Enterprises, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.37 and a 1 year high of $53.78. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.65.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.11. Rush Enterprises had a return on equity of 18.44% and a net margin of 4.38%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Rush Enterprises, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. Rush Enterprises’s payout ratio is 16.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jody Pollard sold 11,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.28, for a total transaction of $543,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,073.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 17.10% 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.