Stevens Capital Management LP Invests $307,000 in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 4,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 83.5% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 18.1% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 5,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,927,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Casey’s General Stores by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 273,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,694,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $390.54 per share, for a total transaction of $99,978.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,310,652.24. The trade was a 8.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CASY shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $450.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $423.09.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ CASY opened at $412.50 on Tuesday. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $306.45 and a fifty-two week high of $445.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $410.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $401.67. The firm has a market cap of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.57. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 3.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.