Casey's General Stores

Casey's General Stores Inc. (CASY) is watching analysts boost estimates ahead of reporting fiscal second quarter results in early December. For the year ending April 2010, the Zacks Consensus Estimate jumped from $2.19 to $2.21 per share in 1 month’s time.

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.

Earnings Projections are on the Rise

The company is watching analysts boost estimates ahead of reporting fiscal second quarter results in early December. For the year ending April 2010, the Zacks Consensus Estimate jumped from $2.19 to $2.21 per share in 1 month’s time.

For the following year, analysts polled by Zacks are calling for earnings of $2.25 per share, up from last month's $2.21.

The second-quarter Zacks Consensus Estimate of 60 cents per share was increased from 57 cents over the past 90 days.

A Solid First Quarter

The company announced fiscal first-quarter results in early September. Earnings of 87 cents per share, exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 45% and topped the year-prior total. During the past 4 consecutive quarters, Casey’s delivered an average upside earnings surprise of 17.5%.

The company also declared a dividend of $0.085 per share, which translates into a an industry-leading yield of 1%. The dividend was paid out on November 2.

Beating the Benchmarks

Fundamentally, Casey's is leading the industry. The company's return on equity (ROE) of 14% doubles the industry average of 7%. Its net profit margin of 2% tops the industry average of 0.44%.

Casey's has also outperformed technically lately as shares have doubled the market's return over the past 3 months.

Read the full analyst report on CASY