Short Interest in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Increases By 6.3%

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 595,100 shares, a growth of 6.3% from the August 15th total of 559,900 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 292,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CASY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $342.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $393.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.20.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total value of $5,056,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,655,284.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Casey’s General Stores news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total value of $5,056,290.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,655,284.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total transaction of $1,140,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,044 shares in the company, valued at $3,438,890.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Congress Asset Management Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the first quarter worth $112,081,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 195.8% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,309 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth $903,000. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth $8,498,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the first quarter worth $794,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CASY traded down $2.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $373.02. 118,202 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 280,718. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $13.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $374.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $346.63. Casey’s General Stores has a 1-year low of $260.13 and a 1-year high of $401.07.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.54 by $0.29. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.15 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.89%.

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.