Claret Asset Management Corp Lowers Stake in Tractor Supply Company $TSCO

Claret Asset Management Corp cut its holdings in Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 10.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 102,224 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 11,773 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Tractor Supply were worth $5,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Buckhead Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply by 310.3% during the third quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 36,863 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 27,878 shares during the period. First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new position in Tractor Supply in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,069,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in Tractor Supply by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 130,035 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,862,000 after buying an additional 7,871 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Tractor Supply by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 149,323 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,880,000 after buying an additional 46,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in Tractor Supply by 356.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 6,426 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 5,017 shares during the last quarter. 98.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tractor Supply Price Performance

Tractor Supply stock opened at $50.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.72. Tractor Supply Company has a 12-month low of $46.85 and a 12-month 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.52.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Tractor Supply Company will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TSCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Tractor Supply in a report on Friday, January 30th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Tractor Supply from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Tractor Supply from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $55.00 target price on Tractor Supply in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.78.

Insider Activity at Tractor Supply

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

Tractor Supply Company 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.