Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 40,384 Shares of Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 291,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,384 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Rush Enterprises were worth $15,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RUSHA. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Rush Enterprises during the first quarter valued at approximately $625,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Rush Enterprises by 853.9% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 4,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 4,423 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Rush Enterprises by 20.1% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Rush Enterprises in the first quarter valued at about $898,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Rush Enterprises by 14.2% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. 84.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Rush Enterprises

In related news, CEO William M. Rusty Rush sold 117,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $7,517,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,154 shares in the company, valued at $11,142,372.92. This trade represents a 40.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jason Wilder sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.68, for a total transaction of $232,560.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,597.12. This trade represents a 89.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 220,500 shares of company stock worth $13,552,133. Company insiders own 12.53% of the company’s stock.

Rush Enterprises Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of RUSHA stock opened at $60.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 1.40. Rush Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.10 and a fifty-two week high of $65.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $54.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.22.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Rush Enterprises, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Rush Enterprises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.