Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Holdings in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY - Free Report) by 40.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,227 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,066 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.06% of Casey's General Stores worth $8,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores during the 1st quarter worth about $212,000. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey's General Stores during the first quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Casey's General Stores by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Casey's General Stores by 46.1% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,646,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in Casey's General Stores by 0.9% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 32,477 shares of the company's stock worth $10,342,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CASY shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Casey's General Stores from $393.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Casey's General Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Casey's General Stores in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $435.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Casey's General Stores from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Casey's General Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $408.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $1,140,720.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,438,890.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of Casey's General Stores stock in a transaction on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 9,044 shares in the company, valued at $3,438,890.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Casey's General Stores Price Performance

CASY stock traded up $6.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $415.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 90,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,675. The stock has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78 and a beta of 0.79. The company's 50 day moving average is $379.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $364.98. Casey's General Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $266.56 and a fifty-two week high of $416.59. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.29. Casey's General Stores had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 3.40%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.52 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Casey's General Stores, Inc. will post 14.01 EPS for the current year.

Casey's General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company 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 is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Casey's General Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.56%.

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.