Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its stake in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 14.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 120,178 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,261 shares during the quarter. Casey’s General Stores comprises 0.8% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.32% of Casey’s General Stores worth $45,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 10.1% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC lifted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 12.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV lifted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Islay Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC now owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ CASY traded up $12.11 on Thursday, reaching $378.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 368,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,534. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.44 and a twelve month high of $401.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.18, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $373.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $332.14.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.64. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 17.25%. The company had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CASY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $340.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 3rd. Northcoast Research raised shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $410.22.

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.