Casey's General Stores Q2 Profit Up

(RTTNews) - Casey's General Stores Inc. (CASY) Monday reported a profit that trumped Wall Street estimates, as revenues came in line with expectations.

Casey's General Stores' second-quarter profit rose to $66.6 million or $1.80 per share from $48.9 million or $1.28 per share last year.

Revenues for the quarter gained $2.54 billion from $2.15 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimate earnings of $1.61 per share and revenues of $2.54 billion for the quarter.

Same-store gallons of fuel sold fell 1.1% for the quarter, while analysts reportedly expected a 0.5% increase in same-store gallons sold. For the third quarter, Casey now expects same-store gallons sold to be between a decline of 1% to a rise of 0.5%, while analysts estimate a a 1.7% rise.

"We're moving the Company forward on multiple fronts," said Terry Handley, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The ongoing efforts around operating expense control, combined with a continued focus on strategic pricing, new store openings, and the favorable impact of tax reform produced strong diluted earnings per share growth."

The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share. The dividend is payable February 15, 2019 to shareholders of record on February 1, 2019.

CASY closed Monday's trading at $119.68, down $1.80 or 1.48%, on the Nasdaq. The stock slipped $8.18 or 6.83% in the after-hours trading.