Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Buys Shares of 1,015 Casey’s General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 179,938.2% in the fourth 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 during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $447,403,000 after acquiring an additional 206,777 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake 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 valued at $106,750,000 after acquiring an additional 191,863 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 717.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,946,000 after acquiring an additional 139,647 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 146.4% during the third quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 157,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,823,000 after buying an additional 93,366 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ CASY opened at $767.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.65. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $433.16 and a 1 year high of $901.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $780.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $667.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 3.83%.The firm’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 18.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $665.43 per share, with a total value of $199,629.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 4,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,993,769.57. This represents a 7.14% increase 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, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.04, for a total transaction of $136,608.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 4,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,758,798.56. This trade represents a 4.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CASY. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $745.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. William Blair began coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $662.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $752.36.

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.