Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Reduces Stake in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lessened its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 6.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,806 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,170 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $6,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CASY opened at $368.00 on Friday. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.13 and a 1-year high of $401.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $374.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.80.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.29. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 3.40%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.52 EPS. Casey’s General Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.15 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Northcoast Research upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective 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. 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 research note on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $342.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $404.90.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of Casey’s General Stores 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,438,890.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 9,044 shares in the company, valued at $3,438,890.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mike Spanos bought 267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at $975,810.92. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.