Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $375.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $342.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $322.00 to $361.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Northcoast Research raised Casey’s General Stores from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $410.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $340.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $401.22.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

CASY opened at $391.16 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $360.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $323.56. Casey’s General Stores has a 12-month low of $238.44 and a 12-month high of $401.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $14.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.80.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 3.38%. Casey’s General Stores’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Islay Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC now owns 5,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.