Evercore ISI Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Stock

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) had its price objective hoisted by Evercore ISI from $460.00 to $470.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $435.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Gordon Haskett initiated coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $400.00 target price 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $419.45.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ CASY opened at $425.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 0.80. Casey’s General Stores has a 52 week low of $266.58 and a 52 week high of $439.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $405.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $382.11. 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 (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey’s General Stores

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the business’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 transaction of $192,208.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at $959,761.11. The trade was a 16.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mike Spanos bought 267 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $975,810.92. This trade represents a 11.47 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 941.7% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 22.5% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

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.