Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Given Overweight Rating at Stephens

Stephens reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $530.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $468.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $486.50.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $541.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.74 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Casey’s General Stores has a 12-month low of $362.42 and a 12-month high of $543.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $514.22 and its 200-day moving average is $469.70.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 8th. The company reported $5.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.02 by $0.75. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.83 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, November 1st will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.83, for a total transaction of $10,156,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 89,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,623,447.20. The trade was a 18.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chad Michael Frazell sold 4,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.97, for a total value of $2,423,087.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,480 shares in the company, valued at $5,785,575.60. This trade represents a 29.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,646 shares of company stock worth $22,136,614. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CASY. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 190.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,244,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,081,000 after acquiring an additional 816,110 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 54,448.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 543,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,054,000 after buying an additional 542,855 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at about $210,151,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 42.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,036,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,851,000 after buying an additional 306,628 shares during the period. Finally, Third Point LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the first quarter worth approximately $130,212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc engages in the provision of management and operation of convenience stores and gasoline stations. It provides self-service gasoline, a wide selection of grocery items, and an array of freshly prepared food items. The firm offers food, beverages, tobacco products, health and beauty aids, automotive products, and other non-food items.