Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Short Interest Up 17.9% in October

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 887,600 shares, a growth of 17.9% from the October 15th total of 752,900 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 229,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY traded down $4.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $401.40. 189,526 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 268,720. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.90 billion, a PE ratio of 29.21 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $386.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $369.16. 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 has a 12-month low of $266.56 and a 12-month high of $420.27.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued 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 company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.15 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 17.07%. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.24 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 14.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on CASY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $393.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $408.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total value of $1,140,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,438,890.56. This trade represents a 24.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total transaction of $5,056,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,655,284.52. The trade was a 15.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter worth $31,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the first quarter worth $32,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter worth $32,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 941.7% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is 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.