Islay Capital Management LLC Has $1.44 Million Holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Islay Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,238 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Casey’s General Stores accounts for about 1.1% of Islay Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Islay Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $1,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,623,000. Steele Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $250,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $170,000. WD Rutherford LLC grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $927,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 1,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CASY. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com cut Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.63.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

CASY traded down $2.77 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $320.07. The stock had a trading volume of 152,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,946. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.50 and a 1 year high of $324.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $308.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.19. The stock has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.36 EPS. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 12.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.67%.

Casey’s General Stores 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.