Casey's General Stores, Inc. (CASY) Soars to 52-Week High, Time to Cash Out?

Core Viewpoint - Casey's General Stores (CASY) has shown strong stock performance, with a 6.1% increase over the past month and a 44.8% gain since the beginning of the year, outperforming both the Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector and the Zacks Retail - Convenience Stores industry [1] Financial Performance - Casey's has consistently beaten earnings estimates, reporting an EPS of $5.53 against a consensus estimate of $4.92 in its last earnings report [2] - For the current fiscal year, Casey's is projected to achieve earnings of $16.69 per share on revenues of $17.34 billion, reflecting a 14% increase in EPS and an 8.79% increase in revenues [3] - The next fiscal year forecasts earnings of $18.32 per share on revenues of $18.24 billion, indicating year-over-year changes of 9.74% in EPS and 5.16% in revenues [3] Valuation Metrics - Casey's currently trades at a valuation of 34.4X current fiscal year EPS estimates, which is above the peer industry average of 25.9X [6] - On a trailing cash flow basis, the stock trades at 22.4X compared to the peer group's average of 16.7X, suggesting it is not in the top tier from a value perspective [6] Zacks Rank and Style Scores - Casey's holds a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy), supported by favorable earnings estimate revisions from analysts [7] - The stock has a Value Score of B, a Growth Score of A, and a Momentum Score of D, resulting in a combined VGM Score of A [6][8] - The combination of a Zacks Rank of 2 and Style Scores of A or B indicates that Casey's shares may have potential for further gains [8]