Wall Street Zen Downgrades Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) to Hold

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

CASY has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zacks Research raised Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Friday, January 9th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $624.09.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CASY opened at $606.50 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $579.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $548.48. Casey’s General Stores has a fifty-two week low of $372.08 and a fifty-two week high of $647.99. The company has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 9th. The company reported $5.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.92 by $0.61. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 3.58%.The company had revenue of $4.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.85 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores will post 13.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Moats Maria Castanon bought 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $554.66 per share, for a total transaction of $166,398.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,391.98. This represents a 59.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CASY. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 28,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,779,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Wendell David Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc. now owns 8,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Interchange Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $374,000. Certuity LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $553,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: CASY) is a U.S.-based convenience store chain that operates retail fuel stations and food-focused convenience outlets. Founded in 1959 in Boone, Iowa, the company has grown from a single neighborhood store into a regional operator known for combining traditional convenience retailing—fuel, packaged goods and tobacco—with a larger emphasis on fresh and prepared foods.

The company’s stores typically offer gasoline and diesel alongside a range of grocery essentials, grab-and-go items and made-to-order foodservice.