17,374 Shares in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Purchased by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 17,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,535,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,596,000. Comerica Bank bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,834,000. Congress Asset Management Co. MA purchased a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the 1st quarter valued at $112,081,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 195.8% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter worth $666,000. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY opened at $370.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.80. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $238.44 and a 1-year high of $389.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $345.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $312.22. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a boost from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CASY. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $322.00 to $361.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $340.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $342.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $375.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.11.

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.