Cerity Partners LLC Grows Position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 16.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 64,006 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,187 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $24,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 941.7% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

CASY stock opened at $427.88 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $390.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $373.12. The company has a market capitalization of $15.88 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14 and a beta of 0.79. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $266.56 and a 52-week high of $428.61.

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

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $451.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $300.00 to $337.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $408.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey’s General Stores

In other Casey’s General Stores news, CEO Darren M. Rebelez sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.54, for a total value of $5,056,290.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,655,284.52. This trade represents a 15.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Thomas P. Brennan, Jr. sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,438,890.56. This represents a 24.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.