Jefferies Financial Group Raises Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Price Target to $445.00

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) had its price target lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $342.00 to $445.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $322.00 to $361.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $380.11.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $372.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $13.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.70, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.87. Casey’s General Stores has a one year low of $216.95 and a one year high of $389.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $326.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $301.65.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 17.25%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casey’s General Stores

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. LexAurum Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 469 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 353 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 1,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.