William Blair Investment Management LLC Invests $95.60 Million in Casey’s General Stores, Inc. $CASY

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casey’s General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 120,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,604,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Casey’s General Stores in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Casey’s General Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 252.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. RMG Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Casey’s General Stores by 250.0% during the first quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC now owns 56 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Casey’s General Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Casey’s General Stores

In other Casey’s General Stores news, insider Chad Michael Frazell sold 3,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $787.49, for a total transaction of $2,372,707.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,823 shares in the company, valued at $7,735,514.27. This trade represents a 23.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Allison M. Wing sold 530 shares of Casey’s General Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $837.58, for a total value of $443,917.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,547,918.36. The trade was a 14.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 30,243 shares of company stock valued at $24,421,877 in the last 90 days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $913.00 price objective on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,069.00 target price on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Casey’s General Stores from $695.00 to $795.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Casey’s General Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $950.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Casey’s General Stores in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Casey’s General Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $944.20.

Casey’s General Stores Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of CASY stock opened at $835.74 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $837.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $775.89. Casey’s General Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $490.00 and a 52 week high of $927.85. The stock has a market cap of $30.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.62, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $1.06. The firm had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. Casey’s General Stores had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 4.07%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Casey’s General Stores, Inc. will post 21.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Casey’s General Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Saturday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This is a boost from Casey’s General Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Casey’s General Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.57%.

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.