T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 22,553 Shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 1.3%, now owning approximately 4.72% of the company's shares, valued at around $761 million.
• Casey's General Stores reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.63, surpassing analysts' estimates by $0.69, and had a revenue increase of 10.9% compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a dividend increase, raising the quarterly payout from $0.50 to $0.57 per share, with a current annual dividend yield of 0.4%.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,753,770 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,553 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 4.72% of Casey's General Stores worth $761,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CASY. Barclays PLC increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,600,000 after buying an additional 9,316 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 500 shares of the company's stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 24,593 shares of the company's stock worth $9,743,000 after purchasing an additional 2,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 502,979 shares of the company's stock worth $199,302,000 after purchasing an additional 17,539 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Casey's General Stores

In related news, CFO Stephen P. Bramlage, Jr. sold 8,478 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $509.21, for a total transaction of $4,317,082.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,623,404.34. The trade was a 24.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.07, for a total value of $1,012,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,636 shares in the company, valued at $2,346,140.52. The trade was a 30.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,646 shares of company stock valued at $22,136,614 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on CASY shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Casey's General Stores from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Casey's General Stores from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Casey's General Stores from $468.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Casey's General Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Casey's General Stores from $460.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $467.33.

Casey's General Stores Stock Performance

Shares of CASY stock traded down $6.92 on Friday, reaching $503.26. The stock had a trading volume of 301,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 229,882. The stock has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38 and a beta of 0.69. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $350.52 and a 1 year high of $531.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $515.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $463.23.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 9th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 3.43%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 EPS for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Casey's General Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.57%.

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.