Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $451.00 to $454.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. Casey’s General Stores traded as high as $415.00 and last traded at $413.93, with a volume of 12406 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $396.90.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Melius Research assumed coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $435.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $393.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $408.25.

Insider Transactions at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total transaction of $5,056,290.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,655,284.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total transaction of $5,056,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 73,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,655,284.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total transaction of $1,140,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,044 shares in the company, valued at $3,438,890.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CASY. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the first quarter worth about $794,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,021,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,183,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 255.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,959,000 after purchasing an additional 6,680 shares during the period. Finally, Evexia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 42.7% during the third quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 14,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,440,000 after buying an additional 4,369 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $15.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $379.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $364.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.54 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.15 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 3.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 14.56%.

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.