Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Short Interest Update

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) saw a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 628,700 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the August 31st total of 595,100 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 253,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of CASY traded up $2.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $375.71. 211,148 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 279,700. The company has a market cap of $13.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98 and a beta of 0.80. Casey’s General Stores has a 52 week low of $260.13 and a 52 week high of $401.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $373.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $351.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its 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 net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is currently 14.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CASY. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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. Northcoast Research upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $407.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 768,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,592,000 after acquiring an additional 10,841 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 468,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,822,000 after purchasing an additional 14,750 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 458,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,771,000 after acquiring an additional 77,515 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $112,081,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 113.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,936,000 after purchasing an additional 154,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

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.