Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Short Interest Update

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) saw a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 752,900 shares, an increase of 13.9% from the September 30th total of 660,800 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 237,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total value of $5,056,290.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,655,284.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 267 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,810.92. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CASY. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $959,880,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 3,846.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 172,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,750,000 after buying an additional 176,920 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 11,242.6% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 107,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,284,000 after buying an additional 106,692 shares during the period. Scout Investments Inc. raised its position in Casey’s General Stores by 138.2% during the 1st quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 179,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,467,000 after buying an additional 103,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 110.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 177,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,609,000 after acquiring an additional 92,813 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Casey’s General Stores stock traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $397.56. 36,841 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 269,995. The firm has a market cap of $14.76 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $377.61 and its 200 day moving average is $362.04. Casey’s General Stores has a 1 year low of $266.56 and a 1 year high of $401.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.84.

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

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CASY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Northcoast Research raised Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Melius Research assumed coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $435.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $408.09.

About Casey’s General Stores

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.