KBC Group NV Raises Stock Position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 945 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 0.5% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 12,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,820,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $576,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 127,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 28,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,736,000 after purchasing an additional 3,776 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $393.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have given 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 price target of $408.25.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $411.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.84. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $266.56 and a one year high of $420.27. The company has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.96 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $387.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $371.17.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $4.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.54 by $0.29. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.56%.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

In other Casey’s General Stores news, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total transaction of $1,140,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,438,890.56. This trade represents a 24.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total transaction of $5,056,290.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,655,284.52. The trade was a 15.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

Casey's General Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates convenience stores under the Casey's and Casey's General Store names. Its stores offer pizza, donuts, breakfast items, and sandwiches; and tobacco and nicotine products. The company's stores provide soft drinks, energy, water, sports drinks, juices, coffee, and tea and dairy products; beer, wine, and spirits; snacks, candy, packaged bakery, and other food items; ice, ice cream, meals, and appetizers; health and beauty aids, automotive products, electronic accessories, housewares, and pet supplies; and ATM, lotto/lottery, and prepaid cards.