Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $424.00.

CASY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $337.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CASY opened at $403.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.13 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Casey’s General Stores has a 12-month low of $268.07 and a 12-month high of $439.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $408.57 and a 200 day moving average of $386.14.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 3.57%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey’s General Stores

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total value of $192,208.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $959,761.11. This trade represents a 16.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CASY. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the third quarter worth about $959,880,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 3,846.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 172,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,750,000 after acquiring an additional 176,920 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 524,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,861,000 after acquiring an additional 174,586 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1,819.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 130,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,959,000 after purchasing an additional 123,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 281.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 164,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,863,000 after purchasing an additional 121,488 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.