Is Rush Enterprises, Inc. (RUSHB) A Good Stock To Buy?

Is Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHB) a good equity to bet on right now? We like to check what the smart money thinks first before doing extensive research. Although there have been several high profile failed hedge fund picks, the consensus picks among hedge fund investors have historically outperformed the market after adjusting for known risk attributes. It’s not surprising given that hedge funds have access to better information and more resources to find the latest market-moving information.

Is Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHB) a splendid investment now? Hedge funds are getting less optimistic. The number of long hedge fund bets retreated by 2 lately. RUSHB was in 4 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 6 hedge funds in our database with RUSHB positions at the end of the previous quarter. In terms of the stock market sentiment, the stock of Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHB) fell 2.88% throughout the quarter, echoing the same behavior as that of the hedge funds.

For an in-depth understanding of the hedge fund behavior surrounding Rush Enterprises, Inc., we will compare it to other stocks with similar market caps, including State Auto Financial Corp (NASDAQ:STFC), Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE:TGH), and Inogen Inc (NASDAQ:INGN) to get a better sense of its popularity.

In the financial world, there are a large number of indicators market participants employ to evaluate stocks. A pair of the less utilized indicators are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see the details here).

Now, let’s take a peek at the recent action surrounding Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHB).

What have hedge funds been doing with Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHB)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 4 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a decrease of 33% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund and institutional investor database, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the largest position in Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHB). GAMCO Investors has a $14.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Quincy Lee of Ancient Art (Teton Capital), with a $14 million position; 2.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions contain Renaissance Technologies, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.