Brokerages Set Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) PT at $424.00

Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $424.00.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Casey's General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $450.00 price target (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Casey's General Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Casey's General Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday.

Casey's General Stores Price Performance

Shares of Casey's General Stores stock traded down $4.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $427.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 263,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 261,693. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.88. Casey's General Stores has a 12-month low of $279.99 and a 12-month high of $439.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $409.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $394.31. The company has a market cap of $15.87 billion, a PE ratio of 29.79, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.83.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. Casey's General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.24 EPS. The company's revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Casey's General Stores will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Dividend Announcement

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is 13.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $959,761.11. This trade represents a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mike Spanos acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $396.76 per share, with a total value of $198,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,097 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,765.72. This trade represents a 19.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,799,104 shares of the company's stock worth $1,505,319,000 after buying an additional 44,295 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 38,226 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Casey's General Stores by 18.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 758,804 shares of the company's stock worth $285,090,000 after acquiring an additional 119,350 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Casey's General Stores by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 655,488 shares of the company's stock worth $246,335,000 after acquiring an additional 8,428 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Casey's General Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $236,500,000. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

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.