Horizon Investments LLC Has $574,000 Holdings in Casey's General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Key Points

• Horizon Investments LLC cut its Casey’s General Stores stake by 93.5% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 1,038 shares valued at about $574,000.
• Several other institutional investors increased their positions, and institutions and hedge funds now own 85.63% of Casey’s stock, signaling continued strong Wall Street interest.
• Casey’s posted better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $3.49, and analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $725.09.

Horizon Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 93.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,038 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,992 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC's holdings in Casey's General Stores were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 35.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 791,415 shares of the company's stock worth $447,403,000 after buying an additional 206,777 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 15,024.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 193,140 shares of the company's stock worth $106,750,000 after buying an additional 191,863 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 717.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,106 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,946,000 after purchasing an additional 139,647 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 146.4% in the third quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 157,119 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,823,000 after purchasing an additional 93,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 98.2% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 150,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,579,000 after purchasing an additional 74,371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Casey's General Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $719.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on Casey's General Stores from $600.00 to $706.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $780.00 target price on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Casey's General Stores from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $725.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.04, for a total transaction of $136,608.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,758,798.56. This represents a 4.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mike Spanos purchased 300 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $665.43 per share, for a total transaction of $199,629.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,993,769.57. This represents a 7.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Casey's General Stores Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY opened at $859.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.65. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $430.00 and a 1 year high of $868.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $729.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $634.05.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 3.83%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 18.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.09%.

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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