Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Price Target Raised to $470.00

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from $460.00 to $470.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s price target suggests a potential upside of 10.52% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Gordon Haskett began coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.45.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CASY opened at $425.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.88. Casey’s General Stores has a 52-week low of $266.58 and a 52-week high of $439.68. The firm has a market cap of $15.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $405.04 and its 200 day moving average is $381.71.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 3.57%. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total transaction of $192,208.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at $959,761.11. This trade represents a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mike Spanos purchased 267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $376.18 per share, for a total transaction of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,810.92. This trade represents a 11.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CASY. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 80.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 227.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 350 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 6.8% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,293,000 after buying an additional 889 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 257.6% in the second quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 22,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,674,000 after buying an additional 16,376 shares during the period. Finally, Freedom Day Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 4.2% in the second quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 6,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,596,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Casey’s General Stores

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.