Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $422.15 and last traded at $422.15, with a volume of 4964 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $416.40.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CASY has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $435.00 target price for the company. Gordon Haskett began coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $408.25.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 2.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $15.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $389.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $371.78.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.29. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 3.40%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total value of $1,140,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,044 shares in the company, valued at $3,438,890.56. This represents a 24.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mike Spanos purchased 267 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $376.18 per share, with a total value of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $975,810.92. This represents a 11.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in Casey’s General Stores by 10.1% during the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 22.5% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 3.1% in the third quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 991 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey's General Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates convenience stores under the Casey's and Casey's General Store names. Its stores offer pizza, donuts, breakfast items, and sandwiches; and tobacco and nicotine products. The company's stores provide soft drinks, energy, water, sports drinks, juices, coffee, and tea and dairy products; beer, wine, and spirits; snacks, candy, packaged bakery, and other food items; ice, ice cream, meals, and appetizers; health and beauty aids, automotive products, electronic accessories, housewares, and pet supplies; and ATM, lotto/lottery, and prepaid cards.