Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 131,314 Shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 37.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 218,360 shares of the company’s stock after selling 131,314 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.59% of Casey’s General Stores worth $83,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $115,799,000. Congress Asset Management Co. MA acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the first quarter valued at about $112,081,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 561.7% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 273,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,050,000 after acquiring an additional 231,887 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 113.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,936,000 after acquiring an additional 154,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 11,242.6% during the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 107,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,284,000 after acquiring an additional 106,692 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CASY shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $342.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $404.90.

Insider Transactions at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total transaction of $1,140,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,438,890.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Mike Spanos bought 267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at $975,810.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,438,890.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

Shares of CASY opened at $368.00 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $374.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $347.71. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.13 and a 12 month high of $401.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.80.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during 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 revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.15 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.89%.

About Casey’s General Stores

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.