Ames National Corp Takes $475,000 Position in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Ames National Corp purchased a new position in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in Casey's General Stores by 110.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,487 shares of the company's stock worth $8,450,000 after buying an additional 11,802 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 758,804 shares of the company's stock valued at $285,090,000 after acquiring an additional 119,350 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the company's stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $251,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Casey's General Stores by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey's General Stores

In other Casey's General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos acquired 256 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $390.54 per share, for a total transaction of $99,978.24. Following the transaction, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.01, for a total value of $109,252.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,067,615.43. This represents a 9.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Casey's General Stores Trading Up 0.4%

CASY traded up $1.68 on Monday, hitting $445.73. 225,285 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 292,057. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $442.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $421.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.70. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $313.89 and a 12 month high of $474.97.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Casey's General Stores, Inc. 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. Casey's General Stores's payout ratio is 13.94%.

Casey's General Stores Profile

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.