Tractor Supply Company $TSCO Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 9.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 289,610 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,312 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Tractor Supply were worth $16,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Tractor Supply by 356.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 6,426 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 5,017 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Tractor Supply by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 45,132 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 13,051 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Tractor Supply by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 26,162 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 5,542 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Tractor Supply by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 49,122 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Tractor Supply by 79.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 899 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TSCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on shares of Tractor Supply from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Tractor Supply in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (down previously from $66.00) on shares of Tractor Supply in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Tractor Supply in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Tractor Supply from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.78.

Tractor Supply Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ TSCO opened at $51.96 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.31. The company has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. Tractor Supply Company has a 1 year low of $46.85 and a 1 year high of $63.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty retailer reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Tractor Supply had a return on equity of 44.36% and a net margin of 7.06%.Tractor Supply’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Tractor Supply Company will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Tractor Supply’s payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tractor Supply news, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 84,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.16, for a total value of $4,501,057.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 606,842 shares in the company, valued at $32,259,720.72. This represents a 12.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan S. Estep sold 59,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.03, for a total value of $3,228,022.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 80,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,372,701.93. The trade was a 42.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 222,348 shares of company stock worth $11,959,621. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Tractor Supply Profile

Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ: TSCO) is a specialty retailer focused on products for the home, farm, ranch and outdoors. The company operates a network of physical retail locations complemented by an e-commerce platform, offering a one-stop source of supplies and equipment for customers with rural and suburban lifestyles. Its merchandise assortment targets a range of needs, from animal and livestock care to maintenance, outdoor power equipment, and seasonal products.

Product categories include animal feed and supplies, pet products, fencing and fencing supplies, equine equipment, lawn and garden tools, work clothing and footwear, and small agricultural and outdoor power equipment.