Casey's General Stores Inc (NASDAQ:CASY) rose Tuesday after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter and raised its quarterly dividend from 29 cents per share to 32 cents per share.
The company, out of Ankeny, Iowa, reported diluted earnings per share of $0.68 for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ended April 30, 2019, compared to $0.51 for the same period a year ago.
Diluted earnings per share proved to be $5.51 for the year, compared to $3.81 last year, or $8.34 when including the one-time benefit of the adoption of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Other new developments of late; the compamy successfully launched the new Caseys.com e-commerce website. CASY also launched fuel price optimization platform in all stores. At fiscal year end, the new fleet card program has over 2,000 active cards and 500 new accounts
According to CEO Terry Handley, "The combination of gross profit dollar margin expansion, a focus on controlling operating expense growth, and opening more stores were the primary drivers of that growth.
"We are pleased with our fiscal 2019 results. The entire team demonstrated a focused effort to drive the business forward while working diligently to build out new capabilities that will support future earnings growth, including completing several value creation plan milestones in the fourth quarter."
Shares in CASY popped $13.20, or 9.9%, early Tuesday to $146.24
