Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 887,600 shares, a growth of 17.9% from the October 15th total of 752,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 229,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CASY. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Casey's General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Gordon Haskett initiated coverage on Casey's General Stores in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a "hold" rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Casey's General Stores in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Casey's General Stores from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on Casey's General Stores in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $435.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Casey's General Stores currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $408.25.

Insider Activity at Casey's General Stores

In other Casey's General Stores news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total value of $5,056,290.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 73,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,655,284.52. The trade was a 15.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total transaction of $1,140,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,438,890.56. This trade represents a 24.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey's General Stores

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Casey's General Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Casey's General Stores in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Casey's General Stores by 941.7% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Casey's General Stores Stock Performance

CASY traded down $4.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $401.40. 189,526 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 268,720. Casey's General Stores has a 1-year low of $266.56 and a 1-year high of $420.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21 and a beta of 0.79. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $386.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $369.16.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.54 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.15 billion. Casey's General Stores had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The business's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Casey's General Stores will post 14.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.56%.

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.

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