Raymond James & Associates Reduces Stock Holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 200,007 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,219 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.54% of Casey’s General Stores worth $54,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 21,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,977,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

In other news, Director Mike Spanos bought 725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $275.43 per share, for a total transaction of $199,686.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $493,295.13. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 0.7 %

CASY opened at $318.69 on Thursday. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $211.49 and a one year high of $324.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $293.44 and its 200-day moving average is $281.51. The company has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.83.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 3.23%. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 12.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 13.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CASY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $291.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $309.00.

Casey’s General Stores 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.