Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Stake Lowered by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Acadian Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 302,374 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,887 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $96,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY traded up $0.23 on Friday, reaching $376.65. 179,839 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 260,004. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $238.44 and a fifty-two week high of $389.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $356.78 and its 200-day moving average is $320.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.64. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 17.25%. The company had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 14.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CASY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark upped their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $342.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Northcoast Research upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $375.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.22.

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.