Casey’s shares drop on lower revenue

Shares of Casey's General Store stock traded lower Tuesday after the Ankeny-based convenience store chain reported fiscal third-quarter revenue that missed analysts' forecast.

Casey's stock ended trading Tuesday at $87.77 per share, down $2.96 - or 3.26 percent - from Monday's close.

Casey's stock fell as much as 11 percent in after-hours trading Monday after the company posted revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter that ended on Jan. 31, compared with $1.79 billion in the comparable period last year. Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $1.79 billion.

The lower revenue was largely due to the reduced retail price of fuel.

Casey's posted a record fiscal third-quarter profit of $39.3 million, or $1.01 per share, up from $12.7 million, or 33 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Chairman and CEO Robert Myers said Casey's experienced significant inside sales growth throughout the third quarter.

'The steady decline in wholesale gasoline costs was favorable to fuel margins, and the low price of gasoline drove sales in all of our business categories,” Myers said in a statement.

As of the end of the third fiscal quarter, Casey's opened 33 new stores and acquired 32 stores.

The company also completed 25 replacement stores, including locations at 201 Eighth Ave. SE in downtown Cedar Rapids and 65 Williams Blvd. in Fairfax.

Casey's has 26 new stores and 11 replacement stores under construction.

'The company is well positioned to take advantage of any acquisition opportunity that may become available,” Myers said. 'We are in excellent financial shape to continue to build and acquire stores. We will maintain our disciplined approach when evaluating potential acquisitions.”