CASY Suffering After Earnings Miss

Casey's General Stores' fourth-quarter profits disappointed Wall Street

Casey's General Stores Inc (NASDAQ:CASY) entered the earnings confessional after yesterday's close, reporting fiscal fourth-quarter profits that missed Wall Street's estimates, but revenue that beat expectations. In response, CASY is down 2.5% to trade at $165.59 at last check

Despite the earnings miss, RBC raised its price target to $167 from $162. Analysts' sentiment coming into today was already lukewarm, with four analysts saying "strong buy," compared to the seven calling it a "hold." Meanwhile, the consensus 12-month price target of $175.22 is a slim 6.4% premium to current levels.

On the charts, Casey's General Store stock has enjoyed a steady climb higher, for the most part, with its mid-May pullback captured by the $140 level. And while its most recent rally back toward its Feb. 21 all-time high of $181.99 lost steam at the $175 region, today's dip is being contained by the 200-day moving average, which coincides with CASY's year-to-date breakeven level.

Meanwhile, the preference for calls is relatively strong in the options pits. The security sports a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.48 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio ranks in the slightly elevated 68th percentile of its annual range, implying a healthier-than-usual appetite for long calls among traders.

While overall options volume is light, the 344 calls and 270 puts that have crossed the tape so far today are running at five times the intraday average. Most popular is the June 170 call, with the 180 call and the 165 put from the same series also getting some attention.