Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) Short Interest Up 5.8% in November

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 932,400 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the November 15th total of 881,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 222,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $421.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $406.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $383.42. Casey’s General Stores has a 12 month low of $268.07 and a 12 month high of $439.68.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.56. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores will post 14.28 EPS for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 13.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $427.13, for a total transaction of $192,208.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,247 shares in the company, valued at $959,761.11. This represents a 16.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Casey’s General Stores by 941.7% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CASY has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $337.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $419.45.

Casey’s General Stores Company 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.