Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 216,524 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,162 shares during the quarter. Casey’s General Stores makes up approximately 1.6% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $59,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the third quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Casey’s General Stores from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com cut Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $312.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.63.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Casey’s General Stores stock traded up $3.24 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $323.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 308,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,646. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.50 and a 12 month high of $324.40. The company has a market capitalization of $11.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $307.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.13. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 12.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.67%.

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.