5,135 Shares in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Rush Enterprises

In other news, 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 transaction 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 represents a 34.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO William M. Rusty Rush sold 117,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $7,517,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,142,372.92. This represents a 40.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 176,000 shares of company stock worth $11,167,173 in the last quarter. 12.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Rush Enterprises Price Performance

RUSHA opened at $54.79 on Thursday. 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 52-week low of $40.99 and a 52-week high of $65.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.60.

Rush Enterprises (NASDAQ:RUSHA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Rush Enterprises, Inc. will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Rush Enterprises Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Rush Enterprises’s payout ratio 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.