U.S. stocks were in positive territory on Tuesday, with investors facing more risk. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.24% to 26,127, the S&P 500 index rose 0.22% to 2,893 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.24% to 7,841.
Shares of Casey's General Stores, Inc. (CASY, Financial) gained more than 11% on Tuesday morning after the company announced fourth-quarter results on Monday evening. Revenue grew 4.3% from the prior-year quarter to $2.18 billion, beating expectations by $60 million. Earnings of 68 cents per share topped estimates by 19 cents.
In the fuel segment, the average margin was 18.6 cents per gallon, up from 16.3 cents per gallon in the prior-year quarter. The total gross profit grew more than 17% to $101.4 million, while total gallons sold increased 2.6% to 546 million.
In the grocery and other merchandise division, sales grew 9.9% to $562.7 million and same-store sales were up 5.7% with an average margin of 31.5%. Same-store sales for the full fiscal year were up 3.6% with an average margin of 32.1%.
In the prepared food and fountain business, sales jumped 5.4% to $254.1 million and same-store sales grew 2% with an average margin of 62.2%.
The board of directors also increased the quarterly dividend to 32 cents per share from 29 cents.
Gainers
- Schlumberger NV (SLB, Financial)
- L Brands Inc. (LB, Financial)
- CenturyLink Inc. (CTL, Financial)
- Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT, Financial)
- Concho Resources Inc. (CXO, Financial)
Losers
- Raytheon Co. (RTN, Financial)
- United Technologies Corp. (UTX, Financial)
- Symantec Corp. (SYMC, Financial)
- L3 Technologies Inc. (LLL, Financial)
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD, Financial)
- Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded in the green. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.35%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.60%, Germany's Dax climbed 1.13% and Spain's IBEX 35 swelled 0.03%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.33%, India’s BSE Sensex advanced 0.42%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.76% and China's Shanghai Composite soared 2.58%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
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