UPDATE: Raymond James Upgrades Casey's General Stores

In a report published Thursday, Raymond James analyst Dan Wewer upgraded Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY) to Outperform from Market Perform, changing its price target to $77.00 from NM.

According to the report, the upgrade represents over a decade of annual same-store sale growth across all in-store categories serving as a testament to the strength of the business model and as one of the best long-term EPS growth stories in the analyst's universe, leading them to believe shares of CASY demand a valuation premium relative to the peer group.

“Recall, F2Q EPS (reported December 10) of $1.06 fell shy of our F2QE and consensus of $1.13 owing to weaker margins (both merchandise and fuel),” the report noted. “Since reporting, shares have fallen 11% (vs the S&P 500 up 2%) while the FY15 (April 2015) Street estimate has moved 4% lower from $4.04 to $3.87, in-line with our projection. Ultimately, we were somewhat surprised by the decline in share price as fuel margins were still relatively healthy (in line with five-year F2Q averages) and in-store margins are likely to improve going forward as the company laps the majority of cigarette price reductions (which began November 2012).”

Some highlights from the report included:

-Industry-leading sales -Superior growth characteristics remain CASY closed Wednesday at $66.75.