Casey's General Stores: Investors Win With CASY at the Bat

Investors win with Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY) in their portfolio because this must-own quality stock self-funds growth, grows profitably, generates cash flow, and returns capital to shareholders. The recipe is one of success, specifically in terms of steadily increasing shareholder value. 

The FQ1 2026 earnings report failed to spur Casey’s market to new highs, but it contained no negative surprises, only good news. The takeaway is that the mid-September price pullback is a natural market movement, likely to be related to profit-taking within an otherwise bullish market, leaving the uptrend intact.

Casey’s General Stores has, after all, risen by 30% year to date, 40% year-over-year, and 100% in the two-year stack, providing ample reasons for investors to take some money off the table. 

Casey’s Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Machine Are Why You Own It

Regarding the capital return and shareholder value, Casey’s General Stores pays a token dividend, grows its distribution annually, and repurchases shares while reinvesting in the business. The dividend is worth about 0.45% in early September, not a large amount, but reliable and sufficient to keep buy-and-hold investors and funds interested.

The share repurchases and equity gains are more compelling. The company halted buybacks in 2025 to hoard cash for an acquisition. 

The story in F2026 is that the acquisition is completed, driving growth, margin gains, and cash flow. The impact on the buybacks and balance sheet is that they have resumed in the first case and remain in fortress-like condition in the second.

The buybacks failed to reduce the count in Q1 but will likely continue at the same or greater pace for the foreseeable future unless another acquisition target emerges. As for the balance sheet, the company’s cash position is solid, rising on a YTD basis in FQ1, while debt remains low and manageable.

The net result is that equity grew 3% in Q1 and 15% compared to last year, and the company is on track to continue increasing its value over time. 

Casey’s Posts Blowout Quarter: Guidance Is Cautious

Casey’s General Stores had a blowout quarter with new stores and comp sales driving strength. The company reported $4.57 billion in net revenue for a gain of 11.5% YOY, outpacing MarketBeat’s reported consensus by more than 200 basis points.

The store count increased by 200, while comps grew inside and outside the store. Inside comps increased by 4.3%, 6.7% in the two-year stack, while fuel comps increased by 1.7%. The truly good news is that margins widened in both segments, driving leveraged gains on the bottom line and outperformance relative to market expectations. 

Casey’s managed to control expenses in both segments, resulting in a 19.8% increase in EBITDA and a 19.5% increase in net income and GAAP earnings. The GAAP earnings are also 74 cents better than the consensus, suggesting the company’s guidance is overly cautious.

Management reaffirmed its guidance, forecasting about 11% annual EBITDA growth. 

Analysts and Institutional Trends Align With Casey’s Uptrend

The two most potent forces in the market, analysts and institutions, are bullish on Casey’s General Stores.

The analysts’ data reveals solid coverage with 12 rating the stock as a consensus Moderate Buy.

The Moderate Buy rating has been firm for over a year, and the price target revision trend is positive.

The consensus lags the market as of early mid-September but is up 16% in the preceding 12 months and likely to continue trending higher this year, as is the institutional ownership.

That group controls over 85% of the retail stock and has been buying on balance all year. 

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The article "Casey’s General Stores: Investors Win With CASY at the Bat" first appeared on MarketBeat.