Casey’s General Stores’ (CASY) Market Perform Rating Reiterated at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets reissued their market perform rating on shares of Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $450.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $400.00.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CASY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $300.00 to $337.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Gordon Haskett started coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $424.00.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ CASY opened at $403.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $407.76 and a 200 day moving average of $383.76. Casey’s General Stores has a one year low of $268.07 and a one year high of $439.68.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.28 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.94%.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

In other Casey’s General Stores news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total value of $192,208.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at $959,761.11. This represents a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Soros Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1,825.6% in the third quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 27,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,382,000 after purchasing an additional 26,197 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,532,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $23,294,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,046,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,305,000 after acquiring an additional 38,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 111.7% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. 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.