Granite Investment Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Granite Investment Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,756 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,146 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Casey's General Stores were worth $4,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CASY. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at about $397,000. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Casey's General Stores by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 110.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,487 shares of the company's stock worth $8,450,000 after purchasing an additional 11,802 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 655,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,335,000 after purchasing an additional 8,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the company's stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CASY shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Casey's General Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Stephens upgraded Casey's General Stores to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Casey's General Stores in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Casey's General Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $430.33.

Casey's General Stores Trading Up 0.6 %

CASY traded up $2.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $460.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 365,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,097. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $307.01 and a fifty-two week high of $468.88. 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 has a market cap of $17.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.74. The business's 50-day moving average is $421.46 and its 200-day moving average is $410.47.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.74 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 for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. Casey's General Stores's payout ratio is 13.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey's General Stores

In other news, Director Mike Spanos bought 256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $390.54 per share, for a total transaction of $99,978.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,310,652.24. This trade represents a 8.26 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.01, for a total value of $109,252.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,067,615.43. This represents a 9.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.