Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Shares Down 5.1% – Here’s What Happened

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)’s stock price dropped 5.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $769.43 and last traded at $765.8320. 245,268 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 493,496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $807.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CASY. Weiss Ratings downgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $910.00 to $960.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $950.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Stephens set a $975.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $942.87.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $28.34 billion, a PE ratio of 40.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $835.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $780.78.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 18.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 21.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Saturday, August 1st were given a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is currently 13.57%.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $800.00, for a total value of $1,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 6,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,334,400. The trade was a 23.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $801.46, for a total value of $15,227,740.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 89,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,469,394.04. This represents a 17.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,243 shares of company stock worth $24,421,877 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the second quarter worth $33,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.