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

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

CASY has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Gordon Haskett raised Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $424.00.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CASY opened at $426.21 on Tuesday. Casey’s General Stores has a 1 year low of $286.46 and a 1 year high of $445.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $410.62 and its 200-day moving average is $396.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.82 billion, a PE ratio of 29.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.83.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores will post 13.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

In other Casey’s General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos acquired 500 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $396.76 per share, for a total transaction of $198,380.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,228,765.72. This represents a 19.25 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total value of $192,208.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $959,761.11. This represents a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Soros Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1,825.6% in the 3rd quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 27,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,382,000 after buying an additional 26,197 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Casey’s General Stores by 9.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $369,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 3rd quarter worth about $23,294,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 758,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,090,000 after purchasing an additional 119,350 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc engages in the provision of management and operation of convenience stores and gasoline stations. It provides self-service gasoline, a wide selection of grocery items, and an array of freshly prepared food items. The firm offers food, beverages, tobacco products, health and beauty aids, automotive products, and other non-food items.