Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Casey's General Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 20 covering analysts, with 14 buy ratings and six holds. The average 12-month price target is $940.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.37 beating estimates of $3.31 and revenue of $4.57 billion topping expectations. Revenue rose 14.5% year over year, and analysts now expect full-year EPS of 21.14.
• Casey's also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.65 per share from $0.57, payable on August 14. Meanwhile, insiders have been selling shares, including the CFO and another insider in recent transactions.

Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $940.00.

CASY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Casey's General Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Stephens set a $975.00 target price on Casey's General Stores and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Casey's General Stores from $910.00 to $960.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Casey's General Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $990.00 price target on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Friday, June 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Stephen P. Bramlage, Jr. sold 5,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $838.16, for a total transaction of $4,777,512.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 29,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,874,074.32. The trade was a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chad Michael Frazell sold 3,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $787.49, for a total transaction of $2,372,707.37. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,823 shares in the company, valued at $7,735,514.27. The trade was a 23.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,243 shares of company stock worth $24,421,877. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey's General Stores

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CASY. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 760,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $420,416,000 after buying an additional 52,250 shares during the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in Casey's General Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $720,000. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 103.5% during the 1st quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 2,448 shares of the company's stock worth $1,782,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Casey's General Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,338,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 140,491 shares of the company's stock worth $77,651,000 after acquiring an additional 3,553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Casey's General Stores Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of CASY stock opened at $859.12 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $822.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $731.65. Casey's General Stores has a twelve month low of $490.00 and a twelve month high of $927.85. The company has a market capitalization of $31.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $1.06. The company had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.33 billion. Casey's General Stores had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 18.73%. Casey's General Stores's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.63 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Casey's General Stores will post 21.14 EPS for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from Casey's General Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.90%.

Casey's General Stores Company Profile

Casey's General Stores, Inc NASDAQ: CASY is a U.S.-based convenience store chain that operates retail fuel stations and food-focused convenience outlets. Founded in 1959 in Boone, Iowa, the company has grown from a single neighborhood store into a regional operator known for combining traditional convenience retailing—fuel, packaged goods and tobacco—with a larger emphasis on fresh and prepared foods.

The company's stores typically offer gasoline and diesel alongside a range of grocery essentials, grab-and-go items and made-to-order foodservice.

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