Congress Asset Management Co. Buys 47,372 Shares of Tractor Supply Company $TSCO

Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,126,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,372 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Tractor Supply were worth $56,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSCO. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Tractor Supply during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Tractor Supply during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Tractor Supply during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Clayton Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Tractor Supply in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Tractor Supply in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kurt D. Barton sold 1,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.94, for a total value of $104,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,413,059.84. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 84,670 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 606,842 shares in the company, valued at $32,259,720.72. The trade was a 12.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 222,348 shares of company stock valued at $11,959,621. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on TSCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Tractor Supply from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Tractor Supply from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group cut their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Tractor Supply from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Tractor Supply in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tractor Supply currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.78.

Tractor Supply Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ TSCO opened at $45.67 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $51.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.53. 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 Company has a 52 week low of $45.45 and a 52 week high of $63.99. The company has a market capitalization of $24.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 24th. 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 2.1%. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.38%.

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.