Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

CASY has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $810.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Thursday. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $896.00 price objective for the company. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $775.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $975.00 to $833.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $933.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Thursday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.69.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Up 1.0%

CASY stock opened at $621.61 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $811.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $785.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Casey’s General Stores has a fifty-two week low of $497.38 and a fifty-two week high of $927.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.59.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $7.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.78 by $0.59. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.56 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 19.68% and a net margin of 4.14%.The business’s revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.77 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores will post 21.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Stephen P. Bramlage, Jr. sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $838.16, for a total value of $4,777,512.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $24,874,074.32. This represents a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $800.00, for a total transaction of $1,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,334,400. The trade was a 23.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,243 shares of company stock worth $24,421,877. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 760,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,416,000 after purchasing an additional 52,250 shares during the last quarter. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the second quarter worth approximately $1,222,000. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 103.5% during the 1st quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 2,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $720,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $1,338,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

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.