Capital International Investors Decreases Stock Holdings in Tractor Supply Company $TSCO

Capital International Investors lowered its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,376,387 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 456,058 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 4.42% of Tractor Supply worth $1,329,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TSCO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,047,687 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Tractor Supply by 2.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,367,775 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $808,341,000 after purchasing an additional 316,595 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Tractor Supply by 123.4% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its stake 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 valued at $670,887,000 after purchasing an additional 3,753,414 shares during the last quarter. 98.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 84,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.16, for a total value of $4,501,057.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 606,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,259,720.72. This represents a 12.24% 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 Colin Yankee sold 11,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.35, for a total transaction of $618,259.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,519,255.25. The trade was a 19.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 222,348 shares of company stock worth $11,959,621. 0.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Tractor Supply Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of TSCO opened at $50.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm 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.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last posted its quarterly 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Tractor Supply Company will post 2.17 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens set a $53.00 target price on Tractor Supply and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Tractor Supply in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Tractor Supply from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Tractor Supply from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Fifteen 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.78.

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.