Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,101 shares of the company’s stock after selling 235 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $1,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 7.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,585,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,458,000 after acquiring an additional 113,437 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 5.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 732,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,922,000 after buying an additional 38,722 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 559,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,924,000 after acquiring an additional 18,528 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 142.8% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 242,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,959,000 after acquiring an additional 142,884 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 2.9% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 217,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,026,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

CASY traded up $9.28 on Monday, hitting $323.20. 234,444 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 281,386. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.50 and a fifty-two week high of $324.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $310.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.53. The stock has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.82.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 12.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is currently 13.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on CASY shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $312.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a 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 $312.63.

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.