Casey's General Stores, Inc. $CASY Shares Acquired by QRG Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Casey's General Stores by 78.7%, owning 1,837 shares valued at approximately $937,000 by the end of the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors made significant adjustments to their positions in Casey's, with institutional ownership now totaling 85.63% of the company's shares.
• Casey's General Stores reported a quarterly EPS of $5.77, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share, set for distribution on November 14th.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 78.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,837 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 809 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Casey's General Stores were worth $937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CASY. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores during the 1st quarter worth $336,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,421 shares of the company's stock worth $2,353,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the company's stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 478.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the company's stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the company's stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chad Michael Frazell sold 3,487 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.40, for a total transaction of $1,936,679.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,993 shares in the company, valued at $4,439,312.20. This represents a 30.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CASY. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $450.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $515.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $468.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $533.10.

Casey's General Stores Stock Performance

Casey's General Stores stock opened at $553.74 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $528.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $491.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a PE ratio of 35.54 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 1.03. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $372.08 and a one year high of $571.57.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 8th. The company reported $5.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.02 by $0.75. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 3.54%.The firm had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.83 EPS. Casey's General Stores's revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 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, November 14th. Investors of record on Saturday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

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.

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