Royal Bank of Canada Sells 8,813 Shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Royal Bank of Canada lowered its holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,043 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,813 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.21% of Casey’s General Stores worth $56,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CASY. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised 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 buying an additional 2,657,687 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $265,163,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 40.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 300,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 115.9% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 423,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,164,000 after purchasing an additional 227,403 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Stephen P. Bramlage, Jr. sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $838.16, for a total transaction of $4,777,512.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,874,074.32. This represents a 16.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $800.00, for a total value of $1,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,334,400. The trade was a 23.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 30,243 shares of company stock worth $24,421,877 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CASY. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $990.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $1,032.00 to $995.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $695.00 to $795.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Casey’s General Stores from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $944.20.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY opened at $871.00 on Friday. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $490.00 and a fifty-two week high of $927.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $823.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $752.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $32.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.62.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $1.06. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 4.07%.The business had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 21.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, August 1st will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This is an increase from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.90%.

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.