BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Stock

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has increased its price target for Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY) stock from $515.00 to $540.00, maintaining a "market perform" rating despite suggesting a slight potential downside from current prices.
• Several analysts are optimistic about Casey's performance, with Evercore ISI raising its target to $580.00, while Wells Fargo and others have also set higher price targets, reflecting a strong consensus towards the stock's growth potential.
• Casey's reported an earnings per share of $5.77 for the last quarter, beating estimates, and showed a revenue increase of 11.5% year-over-year, indicating robust financial performance.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $515.00 to $540.00 in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a "market perform" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target would suggest a potential downside of 0.24% from the stock's previous close.

CASY has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Casey's General Stores from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Casey's General Stores from $540.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Casey's General Stores from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Casey's General Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $501.92.

Casey's General Stores Stock Performance

CASY stock opened at $541.30 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $514.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $469.70. Casey's General Stores has a 1-year low of $362.42 and a 1-year high of $543.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $20.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.74 and a beta of 0.66.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 8th. The company reported $5.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.02 by $0.75. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 3.54%.The company had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.83 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Casey's General Stores will post 13.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mike Spanos bought 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $503.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,636.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,791,320.80. This represents a 5.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.07, for a total value of $1,012,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,346,140.52. The trade was a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,646 shares of company stock worth $22,136,614 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey's General Stores

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,404 shares of the company's stock worth $2,247,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Casey's General Stores by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,147 shares of the company's stock worth $2,116,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its stake in Casey's General Stores by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 590 shares of the company's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY grew its stake in Casey's General Stores by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 1,204 shares of the company's stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in Casey's General Stores by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,870 shares of the company's stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company's stock.

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.

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