Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday.

CASY has been the subject of several other reports. KeyCorp started coverage on Casey's General Stores in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Casey's General Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of 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. Stephens upgraded shares of Casey's General Stores to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $438.00 price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Casey's General Stores currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $430.33.

Casey's General Stores Stock Performance

CASY stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $439.91. The stock had a trading volume of 101,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,158. Casey's General Stores has a 52 week low of $313.89 and a 52 week high of $474.97. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $446.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $423.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.70.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Casey's General Stores will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Casey's General Stores's payout ratio is 13.94%.

Insider Transactions at Casey's General Stores

In other Casey's General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 256 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,356 shares in the company, valued at $1,310,652.24. This represents a 8.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 2,443 shares in the company, valued at $1,067,615.43. This represents a 9.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Casey's General Stores

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC increased its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 325.0% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 68 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Casey's General Stores in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Casey's General Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 40.0% during the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 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.