Short Interest in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Declines By 16.3%

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 887,700 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the May 15th total of 1,060,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 298,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:CASY traded down $4.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $372.02. 280,810 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 328,867. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.70, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.83. Casey’s General Stores has a 52 week low of $216.95 and a 52 week high of $389.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $327.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.44.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 3.38%. Casey’s General Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.81%.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CASY. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,585,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,458,000 after purchasing an additional 113,437 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 1.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 768,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,592,000 after buying an additional 10,841 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 732,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,922,000 after acquiring an additional 38,722 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 559,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,924,000 after acquiring an additional 18,528 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 4th quarter worth $115,799,000. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $342.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $340.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $322.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.11.

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.