Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Rating Increased to Buy at Gordon Haskett

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Gordon Haskett from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $424.00.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Up 1.8 %

CASY stock opened at $435.35 on Thursday. Casey’s General Stores has a 52 week low of $279.99 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $409.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $394.60. The company has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a PE ratio of 30.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.83.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mike Spanos acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $396.76 per share, with a total value 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 $1,228,765.72. This represents a 19.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total transaction of $192,208.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $959,761.11. This represents a 16.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CASY. Soros Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1,825.6% in the third quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 27,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,382,000 after purchasing an additional 26,197 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,532,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $369,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the third quarter worth about $23,294,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 18.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 758,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,090,000 after acquiring an additional 119,350 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

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.