Casey's General Stores, Inc. $CASY Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Casey's General Stores, selling 9,547 shares, which amounts to a 20.6% decrease in its position during the first quarter.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Casey's General Stores, with Royal Bank of Canada raising it to $542 and Jefferies Financial Group increasing it to $600, reflecting positive sentiment on the stock.
• Casey’s General Stores recently reported $5.77 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing analyst estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share to be paid in November.

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 20.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,853 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,547 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Casey's General Stores worth $15,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Casey's General Stores by 190.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,244,311 shares of the company's stock worth $540,081,000 after purchasing an additional 816,110 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 54,448.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 543,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $236,054,000 after acquiring an additional 542,855 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 42.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,036,426 shares of the company's stock worth $449,851,000 after acquiring an additional 306,628 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Casey's General Stores in the 1st quarter valued at $76,467,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Casey's General Stores by 51.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 515,603 shares of the company's stock valued at $223,792,000 after purchasing an additional 175,372 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Casey's General Stores Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of CASY stock traded down $0.10 on Friday, hitting $553.89. The stock had a trading volume of 315,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,081. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.55 and a beta of 0.66. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $362.42 and a 1 year high of $559.37. The company's 50 day moving average price is $516.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $472.05.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 8th. The company reported $5.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.02 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.47 billion. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 3.54%.The business's revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.83 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Casey's General Stores from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Casey's General Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Casey's General Stores from $468.00 to $542.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Casey's General Stores from $450.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Casey's General Stores from $540.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $505.25.

Insider Activity

In other Casey's General Stores news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.83, for a total transaction of $10,156,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 89,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,623,447.20. This represents a 18.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chad Michael Frazell sold 4,808 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.97, for a total value of $2,423,087.76. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,785,575.60. This represents a 29.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,646 shares of company stock worth $21,634,454 over the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Casey's General Stores Company 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.