Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $408.09.

CASY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

CASY opened at $398.31 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $377.61 and a 200 day moving average of $362.04. The stock has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Casey’s General Stores has a 52-week low of $266.56 and a 52-week high of $401.17.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.54 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.15 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.01 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.56%.

Insider Transactions at Casey’s General Stores

In other news, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,438,890.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $376.18 per share, with a total value of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,810.92. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total transaction of $1,140,720.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,438,890.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CASY. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 3.7% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 9,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,905,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 1st quarter valued at about $225,000. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,535,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the first quarter worth about $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

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.