Verus Capital Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,036 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 45 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 400.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1.1% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 15.5% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 8,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,321,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the third quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the third quarter valued at about $283,000. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $424.00.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CASY opened at $414.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $410.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $398.17. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $290.00 and a 52 week high of $445.17. The stock has a market cap of $15.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.83.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.56. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 13.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total transaction of $192,208.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $959,761.11. This trade represents a 16.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mike Spanos bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $396.76 per share, with a total value of $198,380.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,097 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,765.72. This trade represents a 19.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

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.