Casey's General Stores

Casey's General Stores, Inc. (CASY - Snapshot Report) recently delivered a solid fiscal second quarter in the face of a difficult environment. Analysts are hinting toward more growth going forward. For the third quarter, analysts upped the earnings per share forecast by a penny over the past week to 24 cents. For the year ending April 2009, earnings projections have held relatively steady lately at about $1.58 per share.

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.

CASY Saw Revenue Growth during a Challenging Quarter

The company recently delivered a solid fiscal second quarter in the face of a difficult environment. President and CEO Robert J. Myers said, “despite the challenging economic environment, same store sales in all three categories were positive for the quarter and customer traffic remained solid.”

On a year-over-year basis, second-quarter revenue increased by about 17%. Earnings per share of 54 cents were even with the year-ago result.

Analysts are hinting toward more growth going forward. For the third quarter, analysts upped the earnings per share forecast by a penny over the past week to 24 cents. For the year ending April 2009, earnings projections have held relatively steady lately at about $1.58 per share.

Competitive Income

Casey's also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share, noting that it is payable on February 16 to shareholders of record on February 2. The company’s dividend yield of 1.3% is well ahead of the industry average.