Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 35,055 Shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 12.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 244,875 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,055 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.66% of Casey's General Stores worth $92,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CASY. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 1.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 768,060 shares of the company's stock worth $244,592,000 after acquiring an additional 10,841 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Casey's General Stores by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 468,650 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,822,000 after purchasing an additional 14,750 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 20.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 458,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $174,771,000 after purchasing an additional 77,515 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casey's General Stores in the third quarter worth about $959,880,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Casey's General Stores by 2.5% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 220,257 shares of the company's stock worth $70,141,000 after buying an additional 5,296 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Casey's General Stores Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CASY stock traded down $0.52 on Friday, reaching $412.85. 229,658 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 205,053. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $382.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $366.37. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $266.56 and a 52 week high of $420.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.32 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05 and a beta of 0.79.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.15 billion. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 3.40%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 14.24 EPS for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CASY. StockNews.com cut Casey's General Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 3rd. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Casey's General Stores in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Casey's General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Gordon Haskett started coverage on shares of Casey's General Stores in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $408.25.

Insider Transactions at Casey's General Stores

In other news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total transaction of $5,056,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 73,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,655,284.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total value of $5,056,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,838 shares in the company, valued at $27,655,284.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mike Spanos bought 267 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at $975,810.92. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Casey's General Stores Company 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.