Evercore ISI Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Stock

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $460.00 to $470.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI's price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.52% from the company's current price.

CASY has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Casey's General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Casey's General Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Melius Research initiated coverage on Casey's General Stores in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $435.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Casey's General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Casey's General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Casey's General Stores presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $412.83.

Casey's General Stores Stock Performance

Shares of CASY traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $425.27. 187,688 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 266,349. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.67 and a beta of 0.80. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $403.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $380.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Casey's General Stores has a 52-week low of $266.58 and a 52-week high of $439.68.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 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 analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.24 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Casey's General Stores will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider now owns 2,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $959,761.11. This represents a 16.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mike Spanos bought 267 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at $975,810.92. The trade was a 11.47 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Casey's General Stores in the third quarter valued at $959,880,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 3,846.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 172,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,750,000 after acquiring an additional 176,920 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 524,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,861,000 after acquiring an additional 174,586 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 1,819.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 130,291 shares of the company's stock worth $48,959,000 after acquiring an additional 123,502 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 281.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 164,656 shares of the company's stock worth $61,863,000 after acquiring an additional 121,488 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

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.