Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Short Interest Up 13.9% in October

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 15th, there was short interest totalling 752,900 shares, a growth of 13.9% from the September 30th total of 660,800 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 237,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CASY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Casey's General Stores from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Casey's General Stores from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Casey's General Stores from $393.00 to $403.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Casey's General Stores from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 research note on Friday, September 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $408.09.

Casey's General Stores Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of CASY stock traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $398.51. The company had a trading volume of 238,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 271,587. Casey's General Stores has a 1-year low of $266.55 and a 1-year high of $401.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $14.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $377.21 and a 200 day moving average of $361.79.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.29. The firm 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Casey's General Stores will post 14.01 EPS for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.89%.

Insider Transactions at Casey's General Stores

In other Casey's General Stores news, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 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 $380.24, for a total transaction of $1,140,720.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Mike Spanos bought 267 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at $975,810.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,438,890.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey's General Stores

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. 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.

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