Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.7826.

TSCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens set a $53.00 target price on shares of Tractor Supply and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Tractor Supply from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. 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 report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Tractor Supply from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Argus cut their price target on Tractor Supply from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd.

Tractor Supply Price Performance

Shares of TSCO stock opened at $54.53 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.47. The company has a market cap of $28.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Tractor Supply has a twelve month low of $46.85 and a twelve month high of $63.99.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty retailer reported $0.43 EPS 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%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Tractor Supply will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Tractor Supply’s payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tractor Supply

In other news, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 84,670 shares of Tractor Supply stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.16, for a total transaction of $4,501,057.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 606,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,259,720.72. The trade was a 12.24% 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, CFO Kurt D. Barton sold 1,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.94, for a total transaction of $104,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,413,059.84. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tractor Supply

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Tractor Supply by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,679,109 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,571,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047,687 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply by 1.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,931,699 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,474,736,000 after buying an additional 420,731 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,279,046 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,214,390,000 after buying an additional 902,659 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 0.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,002,120 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,213,822,000 after acquiring an additional 150,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,873,514 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $791,703,000 after acquiring an additional 184,457 shares during the last quarter. 98.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.