YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,886 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 38,226 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 18.7% during the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 655,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,335,000 after buying an additional 8,428 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 524,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,861,000 after acquiring an additional 174,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 273,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,694,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Gordon Haskett started coverage on Casey’s General Stores in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $424.00.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $415.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $408.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $391.02. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $268.07 and a 12-month high of $439.68.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 13.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mike Spanos acquired 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $396.76 per share, with a total value of $198,380.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,228,765.72. The trade was a 19.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Casey’s General Stores

Casey’s General Stores, Inc engages in the provision of management and operation of convenience stores and gasoline stations. It provides self-service gasoline, a wide selection of grocery items, and an array of freshly prepared food items. The firm offers food, beverages, tobacco products, health and beauty aids, automotive products, and other non-food items.