Evercore ISI Boosts Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Price Target to $355.00

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) had its target price increased by Evercore ISI from $345.00 to $355.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CASY. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note 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 research note on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com cut Casey’s General Stores from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $309.00.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CASY opened at $318.45 on Tuesday. 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 market capitalization of $11.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.83. Casey’s General Stores has a 1-year low of $212.50 and a 1-year high of $324.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $294.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.76.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores will post 12.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mike Spanos bought 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $275.43 per share, with a total value of $199,686.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,791 shares in the company, valued at $493,295.13. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 430.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,141,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,090,000 after purchasing an additional 926,324 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,799,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 1,277.4% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 454,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,067,000 after purchasing an additional 421,302 shares during the period. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,800,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 152.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 384,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,153,000 after purchasing an additional 232,277 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.