EULAV Asset Management Purchases 33,500 Shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

EULAV Asset Management grew its position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 26.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 161,500 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 33,500 shares during the quarter. Casey’s General Stores accounts for approximately 1.5% of EULAV Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. EULAV Asset Management’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $63,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CASY. Fruth Investment Management lifted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 11,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,480,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth $751,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 1,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp increased its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 1,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CASY shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Gordon Haskett initiated coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $424.00.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:CASY opened at $426.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $408.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $393.39. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $275.27 and a one year high of $439.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.24 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is currently 13.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total transaction of $192,208.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,761.11. This trade represents a 16.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mike Spanos purchased 500 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $396.76 per share, for a total transaction of $198,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,228,765.72. This represents a 19.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Casey’s General Stores 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.