Bank Of America Reports On F4Q11 Beat For CASY

Bank of America is maintaining its Neutral rating and its $43 price target on Casey's General Stores Inc. CASY in light of the company's strong F4Q11. According to Bank of America, “Casey's reported F4Q11 EPS of $0.60 vs. our $0.52 estimate which was 2c above the Consensus. Total sales were in-line at +32.1% (vs. our 31.1% forecast) driven by retail gas sales +37.5% and merchandise sales +15.1%. Operating income was $4.2MM higher than our forecast, about equally driven by stronger gross profits and lower total operating expenses (including D&A). Strong gas CPG (cent-per-gallon) margins of 15.6 (vs. our 14.2 estimate) supported the gross profit upside, slightly offset slightly by lower than forecast merchandise gross profit. Total operating expenses (including D&A and adjusting for one-time expenses last year) were +17.4% y/y (vs. our +18.9% forecast).” CASY closed at $41.03 yesterday.