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

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $467.3333.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CASY shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $468.00 to $542.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $490.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Down 0.3%

CASY stock opened at $494.52 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $514.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $465.88. The company has a market cap of $18.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78 and a beta of 0.66. Casey’s General Stores has a twelve month low of $350.52 and a twelve month high of $531.24.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 9th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 3.43%.The business’s revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 13.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.57%.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 2,000 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $506.07, for a total transaction of $1,012,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,346,140.52. The trade was a 30.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen P. Bramlage, Jr. sold 8,478 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $509.21, for a total value of $4,317,082.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,623,404.34. This represents a 24.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,646 shares of company stock worth $22,136,614 in the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 190.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,244,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,081,000 after acquiring an additional 816,110 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 42.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,036,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,851,000 after purchasing an additional 306,628 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 708,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,727,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 649,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,045,000 after purchasing an additional 52,939 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 54,448.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 543,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,054,000 after purchasing an additional 542,855 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.