Inspire Investing LLC Buys 578 Shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 9.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,805 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $2,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter worth $115,799,000. Congress Asset Management Co. MA bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $112,081,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 113.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,936,000 after acquiring an additional 154,803 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 561.7% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 273,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,050,000 after acquiring an additional 231,887 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 265,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,057,000 after acquiring an additional 6,867 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of CASY stock traded up $3.80 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $383.59. The company had a trading volume of 59,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 292,824. 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’s 50-day moving average is $353.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.80. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $238.44 and a 52 week high of $389.43.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 17.25%. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CASY. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $342.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $340.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $322.00 to $361.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $389.60.

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.