Farther Finance Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,397 shares of the company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,500,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 524,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,861,000 after acquiring an additional 174,586 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1,819.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 130,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,959,000 after acquiring an additional 123,502 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 281.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 164,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,863,000 after acquiring an additional 121,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 758,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,090,000 after acquiring an additional 119,350 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CASY. Gordon Haskett upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $450.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $438.00 price objective on Casey’s General Stores and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $423.09.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of CASY stock opened at $395.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a PE ratio of 27.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $409.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $400.07. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $303.95 and a 1 year high of $445.17.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 3.57%. The company’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mike Spanos acquired 256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $390.54 per share, for a total transaction of $99,978.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,356 shares in the company, valued at $1,310,652.24. This represents a 8.26 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc engages in the provision of management and operation of convenience stores and gasoline stations. It provides self-service gasoline, a wide selection of grocery items, and an array of freshly prepared food items. The firm offers food, beverages, tobacco products, health and beauty aids, automotive products, and other non-food items.