Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $393.00 to $403.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Melius Research began coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $435.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $408.25.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:CASY opened at $420.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.57 and a beta of 0.80. Casey’s General Stores has a 1 year low of $266.56 and a 1 year high of $435.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $398.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $377.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.15 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 3.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.22 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $975,810.92. The trade was a 11.47 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Soros Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1,825.6% in the 3rd quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 27,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,382,000 after acquiring an additional 26,197 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,046,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,305,000 after purchasing an additional 38,226 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 111.7% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 48,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,362,000 after purchasing an additional 2,679 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.