William Blair Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Casey's General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management acquired 120,288 Casey’s General Stores shares worth approximately $95.6 million, joining other major institutions that have recently built or expanded positions. Institutional investors collectively own 85.63% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 14 Buy ratings and six Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $944.20. Northcoast Research upgraded the stock to Buy with a $950 target.
• Casey’s reported strong quarterly results, with $4.37 in EPS and $4.57 billion in revenue, beating estimates and delivering 14.5% year-over-year revenue growth. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.65 per share, although insiders sold more than $24.4 million of stock over the past 90 days.

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 120,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $95,604,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.33% of Casey's General Stores as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CASY. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Casey's General Stores in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,759,895,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 179,938.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,659,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,469,747,000 after buying an additional 2,657,687 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $265,163,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $281,011,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 310,470 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey's General Stores

In other news, CFO Stephen P. Bramlage, Jr. sold 5,700 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 29,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,874,074.32. This trade represents a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 19,000 shares of Casey's General Stores 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 directly owned 89,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,469,394.04. The trade was a 17.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 30,243 shares of company stock valued at $24,421,877 in the last ninety days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on CASY shares. Northcoast Research upgraded Casey's General Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $950.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on Casey's General Stores from $805.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Casey's General Stores from $695.00 to $795.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Casey's General Stores from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $913.00 price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Casey's General Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $944.20.

Casey's General Stores Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Casey's General Stores stock opened at $835.74 on Friday. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $490.00 and a 1-year high of $927.85. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $837.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $775.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.93 billion, a PE ratio of 43.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.61.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.63 EPS. Casey's General Stores's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 21.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.57%.

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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