Legal & General Group Plc Sells 16,365 Shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 16,365 shares and ending with 59,893 shares valued at about $33.1 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains generally positive: analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus on CASY, with several firms raising price targets, including Wells Fargo to $910.
• Casey’s reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $3.49 versus estimates of $2.94, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share paid on May 15.

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,893 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,365 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.16% of Casey's General Stores worth $33,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 179,938.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,659,164 shares of the company's stock worth $1,469,747,000 after purchasing an additional 2,657,687 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 35.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 791,415 shares of the company's stock worth $447,403,000 after purchasing an additional 206,777 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 7.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 758,212 shares of the company's stock worth $428,632,000 after purchasing an additional 49,319 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 5.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 507,998 shares of the company's stock worth $287,182,000 after purchasing an additional 24,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Casey's General Stores by 2.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 447,265 shares of the company's stock worth $252,832,000 after purchasing an additional 8,781 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores from $700.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores from $830.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores from $745.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Casey's General Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $752.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Casey's General Stores Stock Down 1.8%

NASDAQ CASY opened at $767.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $780.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $667.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.04, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.65. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $433.16 and a 52 week high of $901.00.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. Casey's General Stores had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The business's revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 18.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Casey's General Stores 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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