Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $944.20.

A number of analysts have issued reports on CASY shares. Zacks Research downgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,069.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Monday, June 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $896.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $846.45 on Wednesday. Casey’s General Stores has a twelve month low of $490.00 and a twelve month high of $927.85. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $837.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $768.85. The firm has a market cap of $31.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.18, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.61.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $1.06. The company had revenue of $4.57 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 21.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. 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 is currently 13.57%.

Insider Transactions at Casey’s General Stores

In other Casey’s General Stores news, CFO Stephen P. Bramlage, Jr. sold 5,700 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $24,874,074.32. This represents a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Allison M. Wing sold 530 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $837.58, for a total value of $443,917.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,547,918.36. This trade represents a 14.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 30,243 shares of company stock worth $24,421,877 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CASY. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,759,895,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,657,687 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $265,163,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter worth about $281,011,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter worth about $246,982,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

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.