Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

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

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CASY. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $340.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $393.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $410.22.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ:CASY traded down $11.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $371.93. The company had a trading volume of 368,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 226,395. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $365.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $326.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Casey’s General Stores has a 1 year low of $238.44 and a 1 year high of $401.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.80.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.64. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 3.38%. The company had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores will post 14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. 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. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 10.1% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 12.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Islay Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC now owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casey’s General Stores Company 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.