Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Stake Increased by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 136.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,608 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $1,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Soros Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 1,825.6% during the 3rd quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 27,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,382,000 after acquiring an additional 26,197 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,332 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $23,294,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 758,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,090,000 after buying an additional 119,350 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,046,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,305,000 after buying an additional 38,226 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total value of $192,208.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $959,761.11. This trade represents a 16.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mike Spanos bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $396.76 per share, for a total transaction of $198,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,228,765.72. This trade represents a 19.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CASY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $300.00 to $337.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Gordon Haskett began coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $424.00.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $391.30 on Thursday. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $268.07 and a 1-year high of $439.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $409.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $388.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27 and a beta of 0.82.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.24 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.94%.

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.