Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $684.61 and last traded at $678.08, with a volume of 20572 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $671.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CASY. Bank of America started coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a report on Friday, January 9th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $688.00 price objective on Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $662.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore set a $665.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $621.00.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Up 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $611.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $564.19.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 9th. The company reported $5.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.92 by $0.61. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, February 1st were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, Director Moats Maria Castanon purchased 300 shares of Casey’s General Stores 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,391.98. This represents a 59.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 179,938.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,659,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,469,747,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657,687 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 890,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $503,635,000 after purchasing an additional 502,104 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $265,163,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,068,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,671,000 after purchasing an additional 310,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 175.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 471,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,622,000 after purchasing an additional 300,249 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

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.