Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $435.00 price target for the company. Gordon Haskett assumed coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.25.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:CASY opened at $422.27 on Thursday. Casey’s General Stores has a 52 week low of $266.56 and a 52 week high of $435.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $398.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $377.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.15 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 3.40%. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, Director Mike Spanos bought 267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $376.18 per share, with a total value of $100,440.06. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,810.92. This represents a 11.47 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Logan Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the third quarter worth about $2,049,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the third quarter worth approximately $899,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 49.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 524,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,861,000 after buying an additional 174,586 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 74.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 16,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,235,000 after acquiring an additional 7,078 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 10.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.