Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Buys 35 Shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,085 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Casey’s General Stores were worth $4,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 430.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,141,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,090,000 after acquiring an additional 926,324 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 1,277.4% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 454,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,067,000 after acquiring an additional 421,302 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $82,961,000. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL bought a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at $56,800,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 152.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 384,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,153,000 after acquiring an additional 232,277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CASY opened at $316.67 on Friday. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.50 and a 52-week high of $324.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $297.92 and a 200 day moving average of $283.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 12.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Casey’s General Stores’s payout ratio is 13.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CASY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $305.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $355.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $312.00 price target on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.44.

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.