Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 932,400 shares, a growth of 5.8% from the November 15th total of 881,500 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 222,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Casey’s General Stores news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total value of $192,208.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $959,761.11. This trade represents a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mike Spanos purchased 267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,810.92. This trade represents a 11.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 941.7% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 22.5% in 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. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter worth $72,000. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $425.27 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $405.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $382.11. Casey’s General Stores has a 52-week low of $266.58 and a 52-week high of $439.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.56. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is currently 13.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $435.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of 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. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.45.

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.