Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $424.00.

CASY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Casey's General Stores from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $438.00 target price on shares of Casey's General Stores and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Casey's General Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Casey's General Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

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Insider Transactions at Casey's General Stores

In other Casey's General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos acquired 256 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $390.54 per share, with a total value of $99,978.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,310,652.24. The trade was a 8.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 17,852 shares of the company's stock worth $6,707,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Casey's General Stores by 66.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 39,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,701,000 after acquiring an additional 15,696 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Casey's General Stores by 3.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,046,830 shares of the company's stock worth $393,305,000 after acquiring an additional 38,226 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 40.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 17,346 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,517,000 after acquiring an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Casey's General Stores Stock Up 0.7 %

CASY traded up $3.25 on Friday, reaching $443.88. 274,843 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 275,716. The company has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $415.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $404.26. Casey's General Stores has a 52-week low of $306.45 and a 52-week high of $447.06.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.57. Casey's General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The business had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.33 EPS. Casey's General Stores's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Casey's General Stores will post 13.94 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 Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.94%.

About Casey's General Stores

Casey's General Stores, Inc engages in the provision of management and operation of convenience stores and gasoline stations. It provides self-service gasoline, a wide selection of grocery items, and an array of freshly prepared food items. The firm offers food, beverages, tobacco products, health and beauty aids, automotive products, and other non-food items.