Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Short Interest Update

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 887,600 shares, a growth of 17.9% from the October 15th total of 752,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 229,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.24, for a total transaction of $1,140,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,438,890.56. This trade represents a 24.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mike Spanos bought 267 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $376.18 per share, with a total value of $100,440.06. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at $975,810.92. This represents a 11.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CASY. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 941.7% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of CASY traded down $4.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $401.40. 189,526 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 268,720. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $386.44 and its 200-day moving average is $369.16. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $266.56 and a fifty-two week high of $420.27. The company has a market cap of $14.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 14.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Gordon Haskett initiated coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Melius Research assumed coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $435.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Casey’s General Stores from $393.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $408.25.

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.