Josh Kohn-Lindquist, The Motley Fool

Tue, May 27, 2025, 3:26 AM7 min read

• Casey's General Stores continues to stomp the market, generating 16% annualized total returns since it went public.

• Despite the growth it has delivered, its growth story could still be in its early chapters.

• Casey's dividend yield may be low, but 25 consecutive years of payout increases highlight its immense dividend growth potential.

• 10 stocks we like better than Casey's General Stores ›

In 2022, my daughter and I bought shares of Iowa-based convenience store (c-store) and pizza chain Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY) to add to her custodial account.

Luckily enough, Casey's has more than doubled in value since and is now my daughter's largest holding.

However, rather than adhering to the traditional investing adage of "buy low, sell high," I'm planning to add some more Casey's shares to her portfolio soon.

Preferring instead to trust in the maxim of "winners keep winning," here are four reasons I believe Casey's could continue soaring -- even as it continues to trade near all-time highs already.

Home to over 2,900 locations across the Midwest, Casey's is now the third-largest c-store and fifth-largest pizza chain in the United States. Focusing primarily on small towns with a population of less than 20,000 people, Casey's shops often act as the cornerstone eatery for many of the easy-to-miss communities it serves.

Using this playbook, Casey's has generated incredible total returns over the years, rising:

• 32% over the last year

• 203% in the previous five years

• more than fivefold across the previous decade

• 5,220% since 2000

• 47,280% since its initial public offering in 1983

To put this last bullet point in context: Casey's is a 473-bagger -- meaning that a $100 investment in the company's shares in 1983 would be worth $47,380 today.

However, despite these incredible returns, the future could be just as bright for the beloved company.

Although Casey's has nearly doubled its store count since 2010, its expansion potential remains vast. Roughly half of the company's stores exist in just three states: Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri.

Casey's currently operates in (and has distribution centers that can serve) 20 states, meaning that there is a long runway for growth ahead for the company as it adds new locations in these other 17 states.

In fact, management believes that roughly 75% of towns with a population between 500 and 20,000 people (within its distribution centers' reach) still don't have a Casey's. Said another way, the company has a long way to go before it would theoretically "overbuild" within the existing geographies it serves.