Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $424.00.

CASY has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Gordon Haskett assumed coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY opened at $391.51 on Tuesday. Casey’s General Stores has a 52-week low of $268.07 and a 52-week high of $439.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $14.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $408.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $389.02.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 3.57%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 13.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casey’s General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $396.76 per share, for a total transaction of $198,380.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,765.72. This trade represents a 19.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total value of $192,208.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $959,761.11. This represents a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 3.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,046,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,305,000 after acquiring an additional 38,226 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 758,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,090,000 after purchasing an additional 119,350 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Casey’s General Stores by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 655,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,335,000 after purchasing an additional 8,428 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 524,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,861,000 after purchasing an additional 174,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 3.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 468,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,822,000 after buying an additional 14,750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc engages in the provision of management and operation of convenience stores and gasoline stations. It provides self-service gasoline, a wide selection of grocery items, and an array of freshly prepared food items. The firm offers food, beverages, tobacco products, health and beauty aids, automotive products, and other non-food items.