Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 1,639 Shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners trimmed its Casey’s General Stores stake by 4.5% in the first quarter, selling 1,639 shares and leaving it with 34,926 shares worth about $25.4 million.
• Insider selling has continued, with Katrina S. Lindsey and Director Allison M. Wing among recent sellers; insiders have sold 30,243 shares worth about $24.4 million over the last 90 days.
• Casey’s posted strong results and raised its dividend, reporting quarterly EPS of $4.37 versus $3.31 expected and increasing its quarterly payout to $0.65 from $0.57.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. cut its stake in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,926 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,639 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.09% of Casey's General Stores worth $25,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Casey's General Stores by 179,938.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,659,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,469,747,000 after purchasing an additional 2,657,687 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,068,682 shares of the company's stock worth $590,671,000 after purchasing an additional 310,470 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 760,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $420,416,000 after purchasing an additional 52,250 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 572,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,234,000 after purchasing an additional 64,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $265,163,000. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Casey's General Stores

In related news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 2,000 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $800.00, for a total value of $1,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,334,400. The trade was a 23.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Allison M. Wing sold 530 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $837.58, for a total transaction of $443,917.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,547,918.36. The trade was a 14.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,243 shares of company stock valued at $24,421,877. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CASY. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $990.00 target price on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research report on Friday, June 12th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price 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. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Casey's General Stores from $805.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Casey's General Stores from $950.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores from $695.00 to $795.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Casey's General Stores currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $940.00.

Casey's General Stores Stock Down 1.6%

CASY opened at $861.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.62. The business's 50-day moving average price is $821.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $742.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $490.00 and a 12 month high of $927.85.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $1.06. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 4.07%.The company had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.63 EPS. Casey's General Stores's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 21.14 EPS for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 1st will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This is an increase from Casey's General Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.90%.

Casey's General Stores Company Profile

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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