Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Buys Shares of 1,537 Casey's General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Key Points

• Daiichi Life Insurance initiated a Casey’s General Stores stake by purchasing 1,537 shares valued at approximately $1.22 million. Institutional investors collectively own 85.63% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 14 Buy ratings and six Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $944.20.
• Casey’s reported quarterly EPS of $4.37, beating estimates by $1.06, while revenue rose 14.5% year over year to $4.57 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.65, although insiders sold more than $24.4 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,222,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CASY. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Casey's General Stores during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 250.0% during the 1st quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Casey's General Stores in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in Casey's General Stores in the 1st quarter worth approximately $52,000. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CASY. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Northcoast Research upgraded Casey's General Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $950.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $1,032.00 to $995.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on Casey's General Stores in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $896.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Casey's General Stores from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $950.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Casey's General Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $944.20.

Casey's General Stores Price Performance

CASY stock opened at $854.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $490.00 and a one year high of $927.85. The stock has a market cap of $31.61 billion, a PE ratio of 44.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $836.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $778.44.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.31 by $1.06. Casey's General Stores had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 18.73%. The firm had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 21.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Saturday, August 1st were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Casey's General Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Casey's General Stores's payout ratio is currently 13.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey's General Stores

In other news, CFO Stephen P. Bramlage, Jr. sold 5,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $838.16, for a total value of $4,777,512.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,874,074.32. This represents a 16.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $801.46, for a total value of $15,227,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 89,174 shares in the company, valued at $71,469,394.04. This trade represents a 17.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,243 shares of company stock valued at $24,421,877. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Casey's General Stores

Casey's General Stores, Inc NASDAQ: CASY is a U.S.-based convenience store chain that operates retail fuel stations and food-focused convenience outlets. Founded in 1959 in Boone, Iowa, the company has grown from a single neighborhood store into a regional operator known for combining traditional convenience retailing—fuel, packaged goods and tobacco—with a larger emphasis on fresh and prepared foods.

The company's stores typically offer gasoline and diesel alongside a range of grocery essentials, grab-and-go items and made-to-order foodservice.

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