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

Shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $725.0909.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CASY shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $719.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $725.00 to $745.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $662.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $700.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $665.43 per share, with a total value of $199,629.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,993,769.57. This represents a 7.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.04, for a total transaction of $136,608.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,039 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,798.56. The trade was a 4.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CASY. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,018,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 4.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 48,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,336,000 after buying an additional 2,026 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 1.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 191,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,065,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 82.3% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,456,000 after buying an additional 1,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 61.6% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 2,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after buying an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

Shares of CASY stock opened at $859.49 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.34, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $729.25 and its 200 day moving average is $634.05. Casey’s General Stores has a 12 month low of $430.00 and a 12 month high of $868.08.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 17.56%. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 18.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.09%.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: CASY) is a U.S.-based convenience store chain that operates retail fuel stations and food-focused convenience outlets. Founded in 1959 in Boone, Iowa, the company has grown from a single neighborhood store into a regional operator known for combining traditional convenience retailing—fuel, packaged goods and tobacco—with a larger emphasis on fresh and prepared foods.

The company’s stores typically offer gasoline and diesel alongside a range of grocery essentials, grab-and-go items and made-to-order foodservice.