Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $730.00 to $830.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Casey’s General Stores traded as high as $775.69 and last traded at $772.36, with a volume of 54306 shares. The stock had previously closed at $768.45.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $700.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Friday, January 9th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $722.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 200 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.04, for a total value of $136,608.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,758,798.56. The trade was a 4.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mike Spanos bought 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $665.43 per share, for a total transaction of $199,629.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,993,769.57. This trade represents a 7.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CASY. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 129.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 431.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Amundi purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $338,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Up 1.7%

The business’s 50-day moving average is $699.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $616.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.90 billion, a PE ratio of 44.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.61.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.55. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. Casey’s General Stores’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.09%.

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.