M&G PLC Cuts Position in Tractor Supply Company $TSCO

M&G PLC trimmed its position in shares of Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 109,346 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 161,922 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in Tractor Supply were worth $6,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Tractor Supply by 123.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,079,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $795,735,000 after purchasing an additional 8,329,462 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Tractor Supply in the 2nd quarter worth $274,959,000. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 12,713,409 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $670,887,000 after buying an additional 3,753,414 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 418.2% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 2,459,895 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $129,809,000 after buying an additional 1,985,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Tractor Supply in the 2nd quarter valued at about $81,025,000. 98.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tractor Supply Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of TSCO opened at $55.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.74. 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 Company has a 1-year low of $46.85 and a 1-year high of $63.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.39 and a 200 day moving average of $55.39.

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

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Insider Transactions at Tractor Supply

In related news, CFO Kurt D. Barton sold 1,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $101,378.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,828,361.22. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan S. Estep sold 59,745 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 80,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,372,701.93. The trade was a 42.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 211,178 shares of company stock valued at $11,341,362 over the last 90 days. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TSCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Tractor Supply from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Tractor Supply from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Mizuho cut their target price on Tractor Supply from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Tractor Supply from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Tractor Supply in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.78.

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.