River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 2,720 Shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. $CASY

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,976 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,720 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Casey’s General Stores worth $39,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CASY. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 5,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,839,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $792.00 to $794.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $950.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $910.00 to $960.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Casey’s General Stores to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $925.25.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of CASY stock opened at $842.25 on Friday. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $490.00 and a 52 week high of $927.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.13 billion, a PE ratio of 43.96, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $810.32 and its 200-day moving average is $694.92.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $1.06. The business had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.33 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 4.07%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 20.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 1st will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This is a boost from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 11.90%.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: CASY) is a U.S.-based convenience store chain that operates retail fuel stations and food-focused convenience outlets. Founded in 1959 in Boone, Iowa, the company has grown from a single neighborhood store into a regional operator known for combining traditional convenience retailing—fuel, packaged goods and tobacco—with a larger emphasis on fresh and prepared foods.

The company’s stores typically offer gasoline and diesel alongside a range of grocery essentials, grab-and-go items and made-to-order foodservice.