Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Casey's General Stores hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $868.43 and finishing the day up about 0.8%.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying an average Moderate Buy rating; the average target price is $725.09.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $3.49 EPS versus estimates of $2.94, and it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share payable May 15.

Shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $868.43 and last traded at $864.82, with a volume of 25142 shares. The stock had previously closed at $859.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CASY shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Casey's General Stores from $725.00 to $745.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Casey's General Stores from $662.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $780.00 price target on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Casey's General Stores from $830.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $725.09.

Casey's General Stores Trading Up 0.8%

The firm has a market cap of $32.02 billion, a PE ratio of 49.70, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $729.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $634.05.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.08 billion. Casey's General Stores had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The business's revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 18.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.04, for a total transaction of $136,608.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,039 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,798.56. This represents a 4.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mike Spanos purchased 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $665.43 per share, for a total transaction of $199,629.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 4,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,993,769.57. The trade was a 7.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey's General Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 179,938.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,659,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,469,747,000 after buying an additional 2,657,687 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,068,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $590,671,000 after buying an additional 310,470 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 35.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 791,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $447,403,000 after buying an additional 206,777 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 7.4% during 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 572,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,234,000 after buying an additional 64,154 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

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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