Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Short Interest Up 13.9% in October

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 752,900 shares, an increase of 13.9% from the September 30th total of 660,800 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 237,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

Shares of CASY stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $398.98. 49,830 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 270,531. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $377.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $361.79. Casey’s General Stores has a 52-week low of $266.56 and a 52-week high of $401.17.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.54 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.15 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 3.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.52 EPS. Research analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 14.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CASY shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.09.

Insider Activity

In other Casey’s General Stores news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total transaction of $5,056,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,838 shares in the company, valued at $27,655,284.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total transaction of $1,140,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,438,890.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total transaction of $5,056,290.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,655,284.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the first quarter worth $32,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter worth $32,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Casey’s General Stores by 22.5% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.