Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) Stock Falls 4% – Should You Sell?

Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) was down 4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $663.73 and last traded at $669.6130. Approximately 104,339 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 518,468 shares. The stock had previously closed at $697.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CASY shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $910.00 to $825.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $950.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Monday, October 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $775.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Friday, September 11th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $835.38.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $25.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $675.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $739.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $7.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.78 by $0.59. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 19.68%. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 21.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Sunday, November 1st will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.52%.

Institutional Trading of Casey’s General Stores

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 43 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. 85.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

Casey’s General Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: CASY) is a U.S.-based convenience store chain that operates retail fuel stations and food-focused convenience outlets. Founded in 1959 in Boone, Iowa, the company has grown from a single neighborhood store into a regional operator known for combining traditional convenience retailing—fuel, packaged goods and tobacco—with a larger emphasis on fresh and prepared foods.

The company’s stores typically offer gasoline and diesel alongside a range of grocery essentials, grab-and-go items and made-to-order foodservice.