Everence Capital Management Inc. Takes $226,000 Position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 5.2% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at about $209,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the second quarter worth approximately $356,000. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $614,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CASY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Gordon Haskett began coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company 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 issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $424.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total value of $192,208.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at $959,761.11. This trade represents a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mike Spanos bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $396.76 per share, for a total transaction of $198,380.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,228,765.72. This represents a 19.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 0.4 %

Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $390.84 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $409.74 and a 200-day moving average of $388.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $268.07 and a twelve month high of $439.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.94%.

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.