Latest news with #Casey's
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
1 Magnificent Dividend Stock to Buy Right Now as It Soars to New All-Time Highs
Casey's General Stores continues to stomp the market, generating 16% annualized total returns since it went public. Despite the growth it has delivered, its growth story could still be in its early chapters. Casey's dividend yield may be low, but 25 consecutive years of payout increases highlight its immense dividend growth potential. 10 stocks we like better than Casey's General Stores › In 2022, my daughter and I bought shares of Iowa-based convenience store (c-store) and pizza chain Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY) to add to her custodial account. Luckily enough, Casey's has more than doubled in value since and is now my daughter's largest holding. However, rather than adhering to the traditional investing adage of "buy low, sell high," I'm planning to add some more Casey's shares to her portfolio soon. Preferring instead to trust in the maxim of "winners keep winning," here are four reasons I believe Casey's could continue soaring -- even as it continues to trade near all-time highs already. Home to over 2,900 locations across the Midwest, Casey's is now the third-largest c-store and fifth-largest pizza chain in the United States. Focusing primarily on small towns with a population of less than 20,000 people, Casey's shops often act as the cornerstone eatery for many of the easy-to-miss communities it serves. Using this playbook, Casey's has generated incredible total returns over the years, rising: 32% over the last year 203% in the previous five years more than fivefold across the previous decade 5,220% since 2000 47,280% since its initial public offering in 1983 To put this last bullet point in context: Casey's is a 473-bagger -- meaning that a $100 investment in the company's shares in 1983 would be worth $47,380 today. However, despite these incredible returns, the future could be just as bright for the beloved company. Although Casey's has nearly doubled its store count since 2010, its expansion potential remains vast. Roughly half of the company's stores exist in just three states: Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. Casey's currently operates in (and has distribution centers that can serve) 20 states, meaning that there is a long runway for growth ahead for the company as it adds new locations in these other 17 states. In fact, management believes that roughly 75% of towns with a population between 500 and 20,000 people (within its distribution centers' reach) still don't have a Casey's. Said another way, the company has a long way to go before it would theoretically "overbuild" within the existing geographies it serves. Best yet for investors, management has shown an appetite for expanding beyond these 20 states as well, using mergers and acquisitions (M&A) recently to tiptoe into valuable new markets such as Texas, Tennessee, and Florida. Not only do these M&A deals move Casey's into new areas, but they also tend to be immediately accretive to earnings thanks to the company's recently formed M&A team. This M&A team typically looks for smaller c-store chains where they can integrate the Casey's kitchen "know-how." By adding new (or upgrading subpar) kitchen capabilities, Casey's typically boosts these newly acquired stores' inside sales by 20% and their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) by 70%. Since Casey's prepared food and beverage sales have a high gross margin of 58%, the added kitchen capabilities help the company generate a 15% return on investment on the average store it acquires and integrates into its model. Best yet, many of Casey's more recent acquisitions have been in larger cities than those it historically served. Yet the company's cash return on invested capital (ROIC) has continued to climb, showing that it seems to be succeeding in bigger cities. Should this figure continue rising -- and Casey's continues to report success in bigger markets -- its store count expansion potential could be massive. Though Casey's may only pay a 0.5% dividend yield, its dividend potential should not be ignored. First off, despite raising its dividend annually for 25 consecutive years, the company's payouts currently only use 13% of its net income. Management could theoretically spike its dividend yield to 3% and still have net income left over. However, it doesn't want to do this, considering it would rather use its excess earnings on its expansion plans. Even as Casey's grew its store count over the last 25 years, an investor who bought shares in 2000 and held until today would now receive a 20% dividend yield compared to their original cost basis. This shows the power of buying and holding dividend growers like Casey's. With management expecting EBITDA to grow by 8% to 10% over the long term, while maintaining a payout ratio between 15% and 20%, double-digit dividend growth could be on the horizon for investors. There's no way to sugarcoat it, Casey's trades at a loftier valuation now than it normally does. However, I don't believe this is simply an overvaluation from the market. Instead, I think the market has taken note of Casey's store count expansion story and the fact that the company has grown its net income by 19% annually over the last decade. While this price-to-CFO (cash from operations) ratio of 16 is higher than usual for Casey's, it isn't outrageous compared to the broader market. For instance, if Casey's gave up on all of its growth ambitions and only spent money on maintenance capital expenditures, it would trade at around 18 to 20 times free cash flow (FCF). This is a hefty discount to the S&P 500's average price-to-FCF ratio, which is somewhere closer to 30. Obviously, we don't want Casey's to quit spending on growth, but I wanted to give this comparison to show its relatively cheap valuation compared to the broader market. As Casey's continues to steadily march across the U.S. and raise its dividend annually -- all at a sub-market valuation -- I'm perfectly happy to add to my daughter's winning position, even with shares back near all-time highs. Before you buy stock in Casey's General Stores, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Casey's General Stores wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $639,271!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $804,688!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 957% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 167% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025 Josh Kohn-Lindquist has positions in Casey's General Stores. The Motley Fool recommends Casey's General Stores. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 1 Magnificent Dividend Stock to Buy Right Now as It Soars to New All-Time Highs was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
CBCO offers free gas cards to donors in summer blood drive
Helping save a life could put some free gas in your car. Tomorrow the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks is holding a 'Great gas card giveaway.'Every donor gets a 10-dollar gas card to Casey's with a chance at a 'mystery card' that could be as much as 50 or 100 dollars. CBCO representatives say summer is trauma season with an increased need for blood. Supplies are already stretched because CBCO gets 40 percent of donations from high school and college students who are gone on summer break. Being closed for even one day adds to that strain. 'On average, we try to collect 200 blood donations a day to try to meet the need of the 43 area hospitals that we service, so when we're closed on Memorial Day, we lose the ability to collect blood, so we're doing a fun promotion on Friday to get more donors in the door,' said Michelle Teter, CBCO Media Relations Representative. A blood donation takes about an hour and you'll want to bring a photo ID, eat beforehand and be well hydrated. It's also a good idea to make an appointment ahead of time through the CBCO website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Best Chef-Approved Midwestern Pizza Comes...From This Gas Station?
If you think about it, pizza tells the most beautiful immigrant tale. What started out with very humble beginnings in Naples, Italy traveled across the ocean, landed in America and did the impossible. Not only did it survive but wait for it, pizza thrived and became a staple food across the country. (Could pizza be the culinary peer of Alexander Hamilton?) From New Haven clam pizzas to Chicago deep-dish and Detroit-style pan pizza to the oh-so-controversial Hawaiian, everyone has a different regional claim to what the best pizza should be. And Midwesterners are no exception. If you crave a solid pizza in the heartland (outside of Chicago), there's a high chance you'll get in your car and head straight to the bright red-roofed building of your local Casey's gas station. Related: Founded in 1959, Casey's is the third-largest convenience store retailer and the fifth-largest pizza chain in the United States. Casey's has a devout following, and for good reason. Chief among them? Casey's iconic made-from-scratch Midwestern-style pizzas. Ask anyone who's road-tripped through Kansas or Iowa and they'll tell you a pizza pit stop at Casey's is a must. Even celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern is a huge fan of Casey's pizza. 'I love gas station food and have tasted three lifetimes' worth throughout my travels, and Casey's pizza rises to the top,' Zimmern told Parade in an exclusive interview. And Zimmern is far from the only fan. The pizzas are so beloved that in 2024, Casey's sold 45 million pizzas. Related: 😋😋SIGN UP to get delicious recipes, handy kitchen hacks & more in our daily Pop Kitchen newsletter. 🍳🍔 Casey's pizza isn't just regarded as the best gas station pizza in the Midwest. It's regarded as the best pizza in the Midwest—full stop. And like any good pizza, the magic comes down to the dough, which is made fresh every morning by the kitchen team working at every Casey's location. "Pizza comes down to the crust. If the crust isn't good, there's no saving the pizza," Zimmern explains to Parade. "You can put the most artisanal, glorious stuff on there and I would say you're ruining those glorious artisanal ingredients because the platform isn't right. It's like having bad rice with sushi." The love and attention to detail Casey's puts into every pizza is why it stands out in a noisy market of mass-market chain pizzas. As a Casey's fan and brand collaborator, Zimmern has visited Casey's locations to see how the pies are made. "They (the kitchen team) are docking the dough (putting holes in it) and what that does is promote even cooking. Better ingredients, smarter cooking. It's really a Midwestern icon," he says. Related: Casey's offers a variety of classic pizza toppings, like sausage and pepperoni, plus specialty pies, including BBQ Chicken and Taco Pizza, but the Breakfast Pizza is probably the pizza the chain is most known for. It's a fan favorite and comes loaded with scrambled eggs and cheese, topped with your choice of bacon, sausage or vegetables. Every so often, Casey's will also offer limited-edition pizzas. And this year, just in time for National Barbecue Day, the regional chain is bringing back its beloved BBQ Brisket Pizza. Related: Casey's BBQ Brisket Pizza features their signature made-from-scratch dough topped with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, jalapeños, red onions and a creamy ranch dressing drizzle. The star of the pie is the double-hardwood, pit-smoked beef brisket that's dry-rubbed, slow-smoked for up to 16 hours, hand-trimmed and piled high for a smoky, savory bite in every slice. 'Their homemade pizza is packed with big flavors, unique textures and fresh ingredients. The BBQ Brisket Pizza is a perfect example of that," says Zimmern. "I can't wait for their guests to rediscover it this summer. Gas station pizza is my guilty pleasure—been saying it for about 20 years—and Casey's is simply the best.'
New York Post
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Gas station food is ‘extraordinary' and ‘hiding in plain sight,' says top chef
Gas station food is as much a slice of American cuisine as a single serving of pizza, according to one celebrity chef. In an interview with Fox News Digital, chef Andrew Zimmern, based in Minnesota, said he's spent the better part of 25 years traveling the country in a van. 'I'm not sure there's someone else alive who's probably stopped as many places to eat as I have in the last two-and-a-half decades,' he said. That's what Zimmern said makes him qualified to vouch for gas station food, which he believes is more appealing to hungry Americans than it may appear. He's now partnered with the Iowa-based Casey's gas stations to promote their new barbecue brisket pizza. 'I really think that what it has to do with is our own sense of adventure,' Zimmern said. 'We don't have to cross the ocean on a 19th-century tramp steamer to have an adventure. We can walk into some place and try a regional food or a regional treat that happens to be for sale in that particular shop and have just as much of a warm, fuzzy feeling.' 4 Gas station food is as much a slice of American cuisine as a single serving of pizza, according to celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern. FOX News 4 But good gas station food goes beyond just pizza, Zimmern said. Andriy Blokhin – The chef praised the new barbecue brisket pizza at Casey's, which he touted for its 'real, wholesome ingredients, stuff I'm happy to feed my family.' He added, 'And by the way, in today's price-conscious world, there should be a pizza that's a whole pizza that can feed a family of four people really easily and not cost you a million dollars.' But good gas station food goes beyond just pizza, he said. 4 Zimmern said traveling on the road makes him qualified to vouch for gas station food, which he believes is more appealing to hungry Americans than it may appear. billtster – 'When you're in Arizona and you have a breakfast burrito at a gas station with three grandmas in the back rolling up homemade chorizo with eggs and crispy potatoes and handing them to you, you are in a very, very, very special place, and you're about to eat something really extraordinary – and they're all hiding in plain sight.' Zimmern also makes no apologies about eating what he wants when he's on the road. 'You try to maintain your healthy lifestyle up until the time that you have a cheat moment or a cheat day,' he admitted. 4 'We don't have to cross the ocean on a 19th-century tramp steamer to have an adventure. We can walk into some place and try a regional food or a regional treat that happens to be for sale in that particular shop and have just as much of a warm, fuzzy feeling,' Zimmern said. Joni – 'If I drank slushies and ate pizza three meals a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, I'm not sure it would really be great for me,' he said. 'That said, I choose not to live in a world where I need to not eat pizza. I choose to live in a world where I get to eat pizza when I want, and I get to have an orange slushy made with my favorite Mexican soda brand.'
Chicago Tribune
15-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Down to Business: After nearly 60 years, The Lantern's become a ‘generational place' for Naperville families
Business: The Lantern Address: 8 W. Chicago Ave., Naperville Phone/website: 630-355-7099; Owner: Mike Lococo of Naperville; General Manager: Jessica Laramie, 37, of Yorkville Years in business: 59 What does your business do? 'It's all about the history. It's a generational place. Families come here. We're known as a tavern. We're known as a bar. We're known as a restaurant,' Lococo said. 'Kids look forward to getting their (free) popcorn and suckers,' Laramie said. 'That's been going on for years. Adults now did it when they were kids.' What should people know? 'We have the coldest beer in downtown Naperville,' Lococo said. Did you start the business? 'No. I bought it two and a half years ago. Don Feldott started The Lantern in 1966. Our 60th year will be 2026. There's going to be a celebration all year,' Lococo said. 'One of (Don's) granddaughters, Kalie Feldott, is our other general manager,' Laramie said. Why did you buy The Lantern? 'Opportunity. A venture to take on. … Don passed away in 2021. Some of the family started running the business. They decided to sell. … I had been here before. I was here when I was 21.' What was your previous job? 'Property management.' How's the business doing? 'It's going great. We didn't change any of the recipes. They are 40, 50 years old. We're known for burgers. We make them fresh every day. We bring in the meat from Casey's (Foods). We have great food. … Our cooks, Ruben and Susanna Gallegos, have been here over 25 years,' Lococo said. How many employees do you have? 'Thirty-five. We've had employees here for decades. Our cleaner, we call him Rob Bob, he's here 5, 6 in the morning. No one's ever seen him,' Lococo said. 'His father worked here. Rob Bob is in his 60s. I will come here sometimes at eight in the morning. It's like if walls could talk. He tells me all the stories, the history that went on here 30, 40, 50 years ago.' Why is The Lantern important for Naperville? 'It's iconic. You'll get construction workers to attorneys to the mayor. Have lunch. Have a drink. This place is a staple. You saw the mural on the side (of the building). If you look up 'City of Naperville,' that's the picture that comes up first. I call this 'the beating heart of Naperville'.' Lococo said. 'We're known as the place to have the last drink (of the night). People try to get here an hour before we close to have that last drink,' Lococo said. What are your hours? 'We're open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, till 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday,' Laramie said. What about competition? 'We love to see other bars down here. We encourage people to open bars (downtown),' Lococo said. 'That makes it a destination place for all of us,' Laramie said. Any favorite stories? 'It was Christmas week. Really crowded. An older gentleman came in and said his daughter was getting engaged (in a park) down the street in 20 minutes and he needed room for 30 people. I accommodated him. … A lot of people meet here, get married, come back,' Lococo said. Are you here 12 hours a day? 'I used to be. Hiring good people is the key,' Lococo said. Any future plans? 'We will not go corporate. It's going to be a traditional, independently owned place as long as I'm here,' Lococo said. 'Maybe (start) a (weekend) brunch. We're working on that … We hope to bring back the block party in August of 2026. Everyone works that day. Some of our customers volunteer and help.' Any other special events? 'We have free karaoke every Tuesday night, from 9 p.m. to midnight. … We also do trivia every Wednesday. A sold-out house, usually a week ahead of time. It starts at 7 o'clock. The same deejay who does karaoke does trivia. The prizes are gift cards,' Laramie said. How about live music? 'Usually on Thursday nights. … On New Year's Eve we do two toasts. One at 5 p.m., one at midnight. A lot of the families come down here for the early toast,' Lococo said. This building is over 100 years old. Is it haunted? 'Maybe in the basement,' Lococo said. Any misconceptions? 'People may think it's a college bar. It's not. It's a family place. On a Saturday you get the whole T-ball team in here after a game,' Laramie said. What's your advice for someone starting a business? 'You've got to have good people working for you and don't be undercapitalized. … People think it's easy. It's not. There's a lot of moving parts. … I'm still learning,' Lococo said.
