Brokerages Set Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Target Price at $408.09

Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $408.09.

CASY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Casey's General Stores from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Northcoast Research upgraded Casey's General Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $410.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Melius Research assumed 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 for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Casey's General Stores from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Casey's General Stores Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY traded down $4.29 during trading on Thursday, hitting $394.02. 194,735 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 270,756. The stock has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68 and a beta of 0.80. Casey's General Stores has a fifty-two week low of $266.56 and a fifty-two week high of $401.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $378.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $362.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.15 billion. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 3.40%. The firm's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Casey's General Stores will post 14.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey's General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.56%.

Insider Transactions at Casey's General Stores

In other news, Director Mike Spanos bought 267 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $376.18 per share, with a total value of $100,440.06. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,810.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 267 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $376.18 per share, with a total value of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,810.92. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total value of $1,140,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,438,890.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey's General Stores

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CASY. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $908,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 2.2% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 9,121 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores in the first quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,535,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores in the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.