M&T Bank Corp Boosts Stock Position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. $CASY

M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 15,024.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 193,140 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 191,863 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $106,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 129.1% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 890,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $503,635,000 after purchasing an additional 502,104 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 35.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 791,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $447,403,000 after purchasing an additional 206,777 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 7.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 758,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,632,000 after purchasing an additional 49,319 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 5.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 507,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,182,000 after acquiring an additional 24,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 2.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 447,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,832,000 after acquiring an additional 8,781 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $665.43 per share, for a total transaction of $199,629.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 4,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,993,769.57. This trade 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 at this link. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.04, for a total value of $136,608.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,039 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,798.56. This trade represents a 4.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:CASY opened at $781.82 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $699.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $616.16. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $430.00 and a 52 week high of $784.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.61.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.55. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 3.83%.The company had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 18.1 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CASY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $700.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $730.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $662.00 to $713.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.36.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

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.