7,480 Shares in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. $CASY Bought by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 7,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,444,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 760,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,416,000 after buying an additional 52,250 shares during the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in Casey’s General Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $720,000. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY increased its stake in Casey’s General Stores by 103.5% in the first quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 2,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $1,338,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Casey’s General Stores by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 140,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,651,000 after buying an additional 3,553 shares during the last quarter. 85.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casey’s General Stores news, Director Mike Spanos bought 256 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $778.81 per share, with a total value of $199,375.36. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 4,758 shares in the company, valued at $3,705,577.98. The trade was a 5.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Katrina S. Lindsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $800.00, for a total transaction of $1,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,334,400. This trade represents a 23.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CASY. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $794.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $990.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Casey’s General Stores to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores from $695.00 to $795.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Casey’s General Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $939.29.

Casey’s General Stores Price Performance

Shares of Casey’s General Stores stock opened at $797.42 on Monday. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $490.00 and a one year high of $927.85. The company has a market cap of $29.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.62, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $820.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $714.01.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $1.06. The business had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 18.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 21.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Saturday, August 1st will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.90%.

About Casey’s General Stores

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.