Caprock Group LLC Buys New Shares in Casey's General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Key Points

• Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake of 4,725 shares in Casey's in Q4 (about $2.61M), joining other large institutional increases (e.g., Victory Capital, M&T Bank, Barclays); institutional investors now own roughly 85.63% of the stock.
• A consensus analyst view is a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $725.09 (8 Buy, 7 Hold), and several firms (UBS, KeyCorp) recently raised targets even as the stock trades near $799.52.
• Casey's beat EPS estimates for the quarter ($3.49 vs. $2.94) while revenue slightly missed, and it announced a quarterly dividend of $0.57 ($2.28 annual, ~0.3% yield) with a low payout ratio (~13%).

Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,612,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CASY. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 35.4% in 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 in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Casey's General Stores by 15,024.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 193,140 shares of the company's stock worth $106,750,000 after purchasing an additional 191,863 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Casey's General Stores by 717.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,106 shares of the company's stock worth $89,946,000 after purchasing an additional 139,647 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Casey's General Stores by 146.4% during the third quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 157,119 shares of the company's stock worth $88,823,000 after purchasing an additional 93,366 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Casey's General Stores by 361.4% during the third quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 101,500 shares of the company's stock worth $57,380,000 after purchasing an additional 79,500 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on CASY shares. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $780.00 price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores from $600.00 to $706.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Casey's General Stores from $830.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Casey's General Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Casey's General Stores in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Casey's General Stores presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $725.09.

Casey's General Stores Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ CASY opened at $799.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $29.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.90, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.61. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $430.00 and a 12 month high of $802.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $707.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $620.19.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 3.83%.The business's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Casey's General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $665.43 per share, with a total value of $199,629.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 4,499 shares in the company, valued at $2,993,769.57. The trade was a 7.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.04, for a total value of $136,608.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,758,798.56. The trade was a 4.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Casey's General Stores 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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