UPDATE: Bank of America Color on Casey's General Stores PO Increase

Bank of America, which raised its PO on shares of Casey's General Stores Inc. CASY, is providing some color on the stock. “Casey's recently reported same-store sales for the month of April, bringing estimated F4Q11 comps to ~11.8% in the prepared food & fountain category (vs. our 8% forecast) and ~5% in the grocery and other merchandise category (in-line with our 5% forecast),” Bank of America writes. “Additionally, retail fuel margins are expected to exceed 13.5c/gal in F4Q11 (vs. our 13.2c forecast). We estimate that every 1c in additional c/gal profits could generate ~22c in EPS (on an annualized basis), or 5- 6c on a quarterly basis. Offsetting these positives, same store gallons were below our 1% forecast at (~1.8%), likely depressed due to rising gas prices (estimated +29% during the quarter).” Casey's General Stores closed Friday at $39.60.