Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $313.25.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Casey's General Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Casey's General Stores from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $312.00 price target on shares of Casey's General Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Casey's General Stores from $355.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey's General Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 3,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 469 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 353 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 46.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 129 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Casey's General Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CASY traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $310.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 236,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,104. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $301.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $284.89. Casey's General Stores has a 52 week low of $212.50 and a 52 week high of $324.40.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.13. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 3.23%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Casey's General Stores will post 12.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.67%.

Casey's General Stores Company Profile

Casey's General Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates convenience stores under the Casey's and Casey's General Store names. Its stores offer pizza, donuts, breakfast items, and sandwiches; and tobacco and nicotine products. The company's stores provide soft drinks, energy, water, sports drinks, juices, coffee, and tea and dairy products; beer, wine, and spirits; snacks, candy, packaged bakery, and other food items; ice, ice cream, meals, and appetizers; health and beauty aids, automotive products, electronic accessories, housewares, and pet supplies; and ATM, lotto/lottery, and prepaid cards.