Dearborn Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 50,723 Casey’s General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 50,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,314,000. Casey’s General Stores comprises approximately 1.9% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Dearborn Partners LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Casey’s General Stores at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CASY. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 4.8% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 303 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln Capital LLC lifted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 4.0% in the second quarter. Lincoln Capital LLC now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 5,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,839,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $800.00, for a total transaction of $1,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,334,400. This trade represents a 23.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen P. Bramlage, Jr. sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $838.16, for a total transaction of $4,777,512.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,874,074.32. This trade represents a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 30,243 shares of company stock worth $24,421,877 over the last ninety days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CASY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $719.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $695.00 to $795.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $950.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $942.87.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

CASY stock opened at $763.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $833.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $781.50. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $490.00 and a twelve month high of $927.85. The firm has a market cap of $28.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.84, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.61.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $1.06. The business had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 4.07%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 21.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Saturday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.57%.

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.