Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $430.33.

CASY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada set a $438.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Gordon Haskett upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casey’s General Stores news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.01, for a total value of $109,252.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,067,615.43. This represents a 9.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mike Spanos purchased 256 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $390.54 per share, for a total transaction of $99,978.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,310,652.24. The trade was a 8.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 325.0% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 68 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $456.15 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $437.09 and its 200-day moving average is $420.03. The company has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.79, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.70. Casey’s General Stores has a 12 month low of $313.89 and a 12 month high of $474.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.57. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 3.57%. The business had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores will post 13.94 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is presently 13.94%.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc engages in the provision of management and operation of convenience stores and gasoline stations. It provides self-service gasoline, a wide selection of grocery items, and an array of freshly prepared food items. The firm offers food, beverages, tobacco products, health and beauty aids, automotive products, and other non-food items.