Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price 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. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $435.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $419.45.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of CASY opened at $425.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $405.04 and its 200-day moving average is $382.11. Casey’s General Stores has a fifty-two week low of $266.58 and a fifty-two week high of $439.68.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.56. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 3.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.28 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casey’s General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $975,810.92. This trade represents a 11.47 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total transaction of $192,208.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,761.11. The trade was a 16.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 22.5% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 3.1% in the third quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 991 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 12,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,872,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

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.