T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Acquires 31,131 Shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,776,323 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 31,131 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $703,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Casey’s General Stores by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Trading Up 1.6 %

CASY opened at $458.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $422.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.95. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $311.84 and a fifty-two week high of $468.88. The company has a market cap of $17.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.57. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 3.57%. The business had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 13.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Casey’s General Stores news, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.01, for a total value of $109,252.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,067,615.43. This trade represents a 9.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mike Spanos purchased 256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $390.54 per share, with a total value of $99,978.24. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,356 shares in the company, valued at $1,310,652.24. This trade represents a 8.26 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CASY shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Gordon Haskett upgraded Casey’s General Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $438.00 price target on Casey’s General Stores and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Casey’s General Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.33.

Casey’s General Stores Company Profile

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.