JPMorgan Chase & Co. Begins Coverage on Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $719.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 0.67% from the stock’s previous close.

CASY has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a report on Friday, January 9th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $662.00 to $713.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $688.00 target price on Casey’s General Stores in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $700.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $700.09.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 3.7%

Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $714.23 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $658.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $590.43. Casey’s General Stores has a fifty-two week low of $397.80 and a fifty-two week high of $721.50. The firm has a market cap of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, Director Moats Maria Castanon acquired 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $554.66 per share, for a total transaction of $166,398.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,391.98. The trade was a 59.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the insider owned 4,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,758,798.56. The trade was a 4.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 179,938.2% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,659,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,469,747,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657,687 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,068,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,671,000 after purchasing an additional 310,470 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 129.1% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 890,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,635,000 after buying an additional 502,104 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 791,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,403,000 after acquiring an additional 206,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $420,416,000 after purchasing an additional 52,250 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.