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

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA - Free Report) by 12.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 291,599 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,384 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.37% of Rush Enterprises worth $15,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of RUSHA. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in Rush Enterprises by 10.1% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,092,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,752,000 after purchasing an additional 100,318 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Rush Enterprises by 6.4% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,047,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,875,000 after acquiring an additional 63,413 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Rush Enterprises by 2.2% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 427,553 shares of the company's stock worth $22,883,000 after acquiring an additional 9,397 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Rush Enterprises by 0.5% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 201,231 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,426,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC grew its stake in Rush Enterprises by 42.9% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 148,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,230,000 after purchasing an additional 44,700 shares in the last quarter. 84.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens increased their price target 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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RUSHA traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $60.66. 369,609 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 361,553. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $54.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.99. Rush Enterprises, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.10 and a fifty-two week high of $65.15. 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 (NASDAQ:RUSHA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Rush Enterprises's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rush Enterprises, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rush Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. Rush Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $7,517,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,154 shares in the company, valued at $11,142,372.92. This represents a 40.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 value of $232,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 534 shares in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 220,500 shares of company stock worth $13,552,133. Company insiders own 12.53% of the company's stock.

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.