Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $649.89 and last traded at $642.43, with a volume of 98040 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $641.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CASY. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $610.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Northcoast Research cut Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $624.09.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Up 2.2%

The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $582.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $550.61.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 9th. The company reported $5.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.92 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $4.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.51 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 3.58%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Sunday, February 1st will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is currently 14.02%.

Insider Activity

In other Casey’s General Stores news, Director Moats Maria Castanon bought 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $554.66 per share, for a total transaction of $166,398.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,391.98. This trade represents a 59.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 129.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 890,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,635,000 after acquiring an additional 502,104 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the second quarter worth $210,151,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 35.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 791,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,403,000 after purchasing an additional 206,777 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 71.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 483,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,923,000 after buying an additional 202,033 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Casey’s General Stores by 15,024.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 193,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,750,000 after acquiring an additional 191,863 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: CASY) is a U.S.-based convenience store chain that operates retail fuel stations and food-focused convenience outlets. Founded in 1959 in Boone, Iowa, the company has grown from a single neighborhood store into a regional operator known for combining traditional convenience retailing—fuel, packaged goods and tobacco—with a larger emphasis on fresh and prepared foods.

The company’s stores typically offer gasoline and diesel alongside a range of grocery essentials, grab-and-go items and made-to-order foodservice.