Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $450.00 to $460.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Casey’s General Stores traded as high as $446.60 and last traded at $441.89, with a volume of 65958 shares. The stock had previously closed at $440.63.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CASY. Royal Bank of Canada set a $438.00 target price on Casey’s General Stores and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $424.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, Director Mike Spanos acquired 256 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $390.54 per share, for a total transaction of $99,978.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,310,652.24. This represents a 8.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CASY. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth $79,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $414.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $403.98.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 3.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.94%.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

Casey’s General Stores, Inc engages in the provision of management and operation of convenience stores and gasoline stations. It provides self-service gasoline, a wide selection of grocery items, and an array of freshly prepared food items. The firm offers food, beverages, tobacco products, health and beauty aids, automotive products, and other non-food items.