Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Twenty analysts cover Casey’s, with 14 buy ratings and six holds. The average 12-month price target is $928.53.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Casey’s reported EPS of $4.37 versus the $3.31 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $4.57 billion, up 14.5% year over year.
• Shares have pulled back from their 52-week high: The stock opened at $756.09, compared with a 12-month range of $497.38 to $927.85. Insiders sold about $24.4 million of stock over the past three months, while institutional investors own 85.63% of shares.

Shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $928.5333.

Several brokerages have commented on CASY. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,069.00 price target on shares of Casey's General Stores in a report on Thursday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $975.00 to $833.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut Casey's General Stores from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Casey's General Stores from $950.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $913.00 price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Casey's General Stores Price Performance

Casey's General Stores stock opened at $756.09 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $827.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $784.78. Casey's General Stores has a 12 month low of $497.38 and a 12 month high of $927.85. The company has a market cap of $27.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.46, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.59. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $1.06. The company had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 4.07%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Casey's General Stores will post 21.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Casey's General Stores

In related news, insider Katrina Lindsey sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $800.00, for a total value of $1,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,334,400. The trade was a 23.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO P Jr sold 5,700 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $838.16, for a total value of $4,777,512.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,874,074.32. This trade represents a 16.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,243 shares of company stock worth $24,421,877 in the last three months. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey's General Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CASY. Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Casey's General Stores during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Casey's General Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Casey's General Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 252.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Casey's General Stores

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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