Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 932,400 shares, a growth of 5.8% from the November 15th total of 881,500 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 222,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Down 0.1 %

CASY stock opened at $425.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 0.80. Casey’s General Stores has a fifty-two week low of $266.58 and a fifty-two week high of $439.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $405.04 and a 200-day moving average of $382.11.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 3.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 13.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CASY shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 research note on Friday, September 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Gordon Haskett started coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.45.

Insider Activity

In other Casey’s General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos acquired 267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,810.92. This represents a 11.47 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 2,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $959,761.11. This represents a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 80.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Casey’s General Stores by 227.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 350 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 6.8% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,293,000 after buying an additional 889 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments lifted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 157.4% in the second quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after buying an additional 2,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 18.6% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is 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.