Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Earns Market Perform Rating from BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $450.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $400.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Melius Research assumed 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 for the company. StockNews.com lowered Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Gordon Haskett initiated coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $424.00.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

Shares of CASY traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $406.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 30,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,275. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $407.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $383.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.88. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.28 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.49%. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is presently 13.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casey’s General Stores news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total value of $192,208.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,761.11. This represents a 16.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CASY. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $959,880,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 3,846.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 172,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,750,000 after acquiring an additional 176,920 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 49.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 524,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,861,000 after acquiring an additional 174,586 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1,819.1% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 130,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,959,000 after purchasing an additional 123,502 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 281.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 164,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,863,000 after purchasing an additional 121,488 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.