Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Raises Holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 290,420 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,684 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $115,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 52 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 firms have commented on CASY. Gordon Haskett raised Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $438.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $450.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $423.09.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY opened at $399.68 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $409.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $400.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $14.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.87. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $303.95 and a 1-year high of $445.17.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.57. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The business had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 13.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 256 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $390.54 per share, for a total transaction of $99,978.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,310,652.24. The trade was a 8.26 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

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.