Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $403.00 to $428.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Casey’s General Stores traded as high as $437.27 and last traded at $431.65, with a volume of 82870 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $416.86.

CASY has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Gordon Haskett initiated coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $410.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,810.92. The trade was a 11.47 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1.3% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 10.1% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 22.5% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 3.1% in the third quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 991 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 3.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 4.2 %

The company has a market cap of $16.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $401.61 and its 200 day moving average is $380.19.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 17.07%. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is presently 14.56%.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

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.