Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CASY. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Exane BNP Paribas started coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. KeyCorp set a $680.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Monday, January 26th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Monday, December 29th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $624.09.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CASY opened at $606.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.67. Casey’s General Stores has a twelve month low of $372.08 and a twelve month high of $647.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $579.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $548.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

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

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, February 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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 dated Monday, January 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $554.66 per share, with a total value of $166,398.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,391.98. The trade was 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 the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the third quarter worth $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 46 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 350.0% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 54 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 52.8% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 55 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

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.