Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Shares Sold by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its stake in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,567 shares of the company’s stock after selling 151 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $817,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on CASY. Northcoast Research upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $342.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $375.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $322.00 to $361.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.22.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY traded up $18.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $391.16. The company had a trading volume of 437,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 213,284. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $360.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $323.56. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $238.44 and a fifty-two week high of $401.07.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 3.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.2 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This is a positive change from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.81%.

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.