BMO Capital Markets Reaffirms Market Perform Rating for Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY)

BMO Capital Markets reiterated their market perform rating on shares of Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $450.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $400.00.

CASY has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Casey's General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Casey's General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $435.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Casey's General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Casey's General Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $424.00.

Casey's General Stores Trading Down 3.6 %

Casey's General Stores stock traded down $15.23 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $406.16. The company had a trading volume of 288,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,265. Casey's General Stores has a 12-month low of $268.07 and a 12-month high of $439.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $407.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $383.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30 and a beta of 0.80.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. Casey's General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Casey's General Stores will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total transaction of $192,208.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $959,761.11. This trade represents a 16.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Soros Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 1,825.6% in the 3rd quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 27,632 shares of the company's stock worth $10,382,000 after purchasing an additional 26,197 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 9.9% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,532,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 3.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,046,830 shares of the company's stock valued at $393,305,000 after buying an additional 38,226 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Casey's General Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $23,294,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 111.7% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,004 shares of the company's stock worth $1,504,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Casey's General Stores

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.