GSA Capital Partners LLP Invests $992,000 in Tractor Supply Company $TSCO

GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 17,444 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $992,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Tractor Supply by 2.0% in the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 105,114 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,978,000 after acquiring an additional 2,032 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 19,285 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 21,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares in the last quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Tractor Supply in the 3rd quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Tractor Supply by 6.9% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 29,752 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.72% of the company’s stock.

Tractor Supply Stock Down 1.1%

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

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty retailer reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.03). Tractor Supply had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 44.36%. The company had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TSCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus cut their target price on Tractor Supply from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Tractor Supply from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $59.00 target price on Tractor Supply and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Tractor Supply in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens set a $53.00 price target on shares of Tractor Supply and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.78.

Insider Activity

In other Tractor Supply news, EVP Colin Yankee sold 11,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.35, for a total value of $618,259.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,519,255.25. This represents a 19.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan S. Estep sold 59,745 shares of Tractor Supply stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.03, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 42.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 owned by company insiders.

About Tractor Supply

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.