Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $424.00.

CASY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. StockNews.com lowered Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ CASY opened at $392.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $409.76 and its 200-day moving average is $388.69. Casey’s General Stores has a one year low of $268.07 and a one year high of $439.68. The firm has a market cap of $14.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.35 and a beta of 0.82.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey’s General Stores

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 2,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,761.11. This represents a 16.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mike Spanos purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $396.76 per share, with a total value of $198,380.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,097 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,765.72. The trade was a 19.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 3rd quarter worth $76,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 3rd quarter worth $118,000. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.