Great Lakes Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. $CASY

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 3,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,723,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Casey’s General Stores by 6.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 129.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 431.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Amundi bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at about $338,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 42.6% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ CASY opened at $828.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $838.47 and a 200-day moving average of $775.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $30.66 billion, a PE ratio of 43.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.61. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $490.00 and a 52-week high of $927.85.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $1.06. The business had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 18.73%. Casey’s General Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 21.11 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost 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%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $801.46, for a total transaction of $15,227,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 89,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,469,394.04. This trade represents a 17.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chad Michael Frazell sold 3,013 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $787.49, for a total value of $2,372,707.37. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,735,514.27. The trade was a 23.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 30,243 shares of company stock valued at $24,421,877 in the last ninety days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CASY. Morgan Stanley upgraded Casey’s General Stores to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Northcoast Research upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $950.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $805.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $950.00 to $970.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $944.20.

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.