Commerce Bank Buys 833 Shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Key Points

• Commerce Bank increased its stake in Casey's General Stores by 7.1%, owning 12,523 shares valued at approximately $5.4 million.
• Casey's General Stores announced a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share, up from the previous $0.50, with a dividend yield of 0.4%.
• The company's stock performance has been strong, with a 12-month high of $531.24 and a reported earnings per share of $2.63, surpassing estimates significantly.

Commerce Bank raised its holdings in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,523 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the period. Commerce Bank's holdings in Casey's General Stores were worth $5,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 542,855 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 51.5% during the first 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. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores during the fourth quarter valued at $24,985,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 332,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,748,000 after purchasing an additional 58,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 2,693.4% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 58,661 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,243,000 after purchasing an additional 56,561 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CASY. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective 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. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $490.00 price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $460.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $467.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chad Michael Frazell sold 4,808 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.97, for a total transaction of $2,423,087.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,785,575.60. The trade was a 29.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 directly owned 4,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 43,646 shares of company stock worth $22,136,614. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Casey's General Stores Price Performance

CASY traded down $3.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $518.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 357,532. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $502.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $455.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $350.52 and a 12 month high of $531.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43 and a beta of 0.69.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 9th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This is an increase from Casey's General Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Casey's General Stores's payout ratio is 15.57%.

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.