Norges Bank Takes Position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 443,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,607,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,629,000 after acquiring an additional 3,065 shares during the last quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. now owns 43,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,049,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 53,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,131,000 after buying an additional 4,458 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council grew its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 10,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,988,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,224,000. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey’s General Stores

In other Casey’s General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos acquired 256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 trade represents a 8.26 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $450.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $438.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $423.09.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CASY opened at $432.00 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $306.45 and a 12-month high of $445.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $413.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $403.20.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 13.94%.

About Casey’s General Stores

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.