Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on CASY. Royal Bank of Canada set a $438.00 price target on shares of Casey's General Stores and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Stephens upgraded shares of Casey's General Stores to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Gordon Haskett upgraded Casey's General Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Casey's General Stores from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $430.33.

Casey's General Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ CASY traded down $4.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $445.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 27,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 290,537. Casey's General Stores has a 12 month low of $313.89 and a 12 month high of $474.97. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $440.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $420.94. The company has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.70. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.57. Casey's General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Casey's General Stores will post 13.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Casey's General Stores

In related news, Director Mike Spanos acquired 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $390.54 per share, for a total transaction of $99,978.24. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,310,652.24. This represents a 8.26% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.01, for a total transaction of $109,252.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,067,615.43. This trade represents a 9.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey's General Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Casey's General Stores by 190.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,244,311 shares of the company's stock worth $540,081,000 after purchasing an additional 816,110 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores in the 4th quarter worth $236,500,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 54,448.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 543,852 shares of the company's stock worth $236,054,000 after buying an additional 542,855 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $175,607,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Casey's General Stores by 42.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,036,426 shares of the company's stock worth $449,851,000 after acquiring an additional 306,628 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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