Franklin Resources Inc. Has $204.86 Million Stake in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 49.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 524,237 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 174,586 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.41% of Casey's General Stores worth $204,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Casey's General Stores by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,072 shares of the company's stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Casey's General Stores by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Casey's General Stores by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 991 shares of the company's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Casey's General Stores by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,078 shares of the company's stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Casey's General Stores by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 12,769 shares of the company's stock worth $4,872,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casey's General Stores Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CASY traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $425.27. The company had a trading volume of 187,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,349. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $405.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $381.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $266.58 and a 1-year high of $439.68. The stock has a market cap of $15.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 0.80.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for 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%. Casey's General Stores's revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 payout ratio is currently 13.94%.

Insider Transactions at Casey's General Stores

In other Casey's General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos bought 267 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,810.92. This trade represents a 11.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 2,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $959,761.11. The trade was a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CASY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Casey's General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com cut Casey's General Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Casey's General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Casey's General Stores from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Gordon Haskett started coverage on Casey's General Stores in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a "hold" rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $419.45.

Casey's General Stores 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.