First Hawaiian Bank Lowers Stock Position in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

First Hawaiian Bank trimmed its stake in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,359 shares of the company’s stock after selling 917 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $4,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Soros Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 1,825.6% during the third quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 27,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,382,000 after purchasing an additional 26,197 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at about $23,294,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 18.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 758,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,090,000 after purchasing an additional 119,350 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 3.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CASY traded up $1.53 on Wednesday, hitting $390.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 162,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,306. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $409.89 and a 200-day moving average of $388.45. The company has a market capitalization of $14.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24 and a beta of 0.82. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $268.07 and a 12-month high of $439.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released 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. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 14.28 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $424.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casey’s General Stores

In related news, Director Mike Spanos purchased 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $396.76 per share, for a total transaction of $198,380.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,097 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,765.72. This trade represents a 19.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total value of $192,208.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at $959,761.11. The trade was a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Casey’s General Stores Profile

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.