Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on CASY. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $662.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $600.00 to $706.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $780.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $725.09.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of CASY stock opened at $799.52 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $707.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $620.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $29.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.90, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.61. Casey’s General Stores has a 12 month low of $430.00 and a 12 month high of $802.56.

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

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 13.09%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CASY. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

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.