JLB & Associates Inc. Acquires 749 Shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

JLB & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,029 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 749 shares during the quarter. Casey’s General Stores makes up 2.3% of JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $17,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 400.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 21.9% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 1.1% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,370,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $959,880,000. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Gordon Haskett upgraded 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 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $403.00 to $428.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $424.00.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY opened at $420.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $410.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $396.45. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $287.77 and a 1-year high of $445.17.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported $4.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.94%.

About Casey’s General Stores

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.