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

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $407.64.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Northcoast Research upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

Shares of CASY opened at $385.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $372.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $354.97. Casey’s General Stores has a 52 week low of $260.13 and a 52 week high of $401.07.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.54 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.15 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 17.07%. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.52 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey’s General Stores

In other news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total transaction of $5,056,290.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,655,284.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total transaction of $1,140,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,438,890.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total transaction of $5,056,290.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,655,284.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CASY. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.