Casey's General Stores Inc.

Casey's General Stores Inc. (CASY - Snapshot Report) is seeing higher Zacks Consensus Estimates ahead of reporting fiscal first-quarter results in early September. During the past 3 months, forecasts climbed 9% for the year ending April 2010.

Company Description

Casey's General Stores, Inc. together with its subsidiaries, operate convenience stores under the Casey’s General Stores name in the Midwest states. It has operations in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Indiana. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa

Bullish Forecasts

The company is seeing higher Zacks Consensus Estimates ahead of reporting fiscal first-quarter results. During the past 3 months, forecasts of $1.97 per share climbed from $1.80 for the year ending April 2010.

For the following year, the Zacks Consensus Estimate was increased from $1.95 per share to $1.97 over the past 3 months.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fiscal first quarter stands at 60 cents per share, versus the 3 months-ago level of 55 cents.

First quarter results are scheduled for release on September 9.

Record Results

The company’s fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year report included record earnings for the year of $1.69 per share. Last year, Casey’s earned $1.68 per share.

Fourth-quarter earnings of 31 cents per share topped the previous year’s 28 cents but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 36 cents.

In fiscal 2010, the company said it plans to increase same-store sales of gas, groceries and prepared food. The company also increase its number of stress by 4%.

Casey’s hiked its dividend to $0.085 per share, which was paid out on August 17. CASY’s dividend yield tops the industry average at 1.3%.

Solid Fundamentals

The company offers a return on equity (ROE) of 12.5%, surpassing the industry average of 10%. The company’s net profit margin of 2% is ahead of the industry average of 1%.

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