Casey's General Stores, Inc. $CASY Shares Sold by First Merchants Corp

Key Points

• First Merchants Corp reduced its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 23.2%, now owning 3,978 shares valued at approximately $2.03 million.
• Casey's General Stores reported earnings of $5.77 per share for the recent quarter, exceeding estimates and demonstrating an 11.5% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.57, with an annual yield of 0.4%, payable on November 14th.

First Merchants Corp lowered its stake in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 23.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,978 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,205 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Casey's General Stores were worth $2,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores in the first quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 3.7% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,353,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 25.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the company's stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 478.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the company's stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 1,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 35.2% in the first quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the company's stock valued at $936,000 after buying an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CASY. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Casey's General Stores from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Casey's General Stores from $515.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Casey's General Stores from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Casey's General Stores from $540.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Casey's General Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $533.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $1,936,679.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,439,312.20. This represents a 30.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Casey's General Stores Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY opened at $553.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $372.08 and a 52-week high of $571.57. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $528.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $491.32. The company has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.54 and a beta of 0.68.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 8th. The company reported $5.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Saturday, November 1st will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CASY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.