Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Acquires 7,568 Shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 389.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,510 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,568 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Tractor Supply were worth $505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSCO. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Tractor Supply in the fourth quarter worth $329,458,000. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Tractor Supply by 398.9% in the fourth quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,118,785 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $271,674,000 after buying an additional 4,092,808 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Tractor Supply by 495.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,145,992 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $225,501,000 after buying an additional 3,449,442 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Tractor Supply by 403.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,912,752 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $207,611,000 after buying an additional 3,135,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lifted its stake in shares of Tractor Supply by 400.0% in the fourth quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 3,750,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $199,012,000 after buying an additional 3,000,000 shares during the last quarter. 98.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TSCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Tractor Supply in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Tractor Supply from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $262.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.22.

Tractor Supply Stock Up 1.2 %

TSCO opened at $52.46 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 1.43. Tractor Supply has a twelve month low of $48.30 and a twelve month high of $61.53. The firm has a market cap of $28.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.85.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty retailer reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.28 by ($1.84). Tractor Supply had a return on equity of 49.01% and a net margin of 7.40%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Tractor Supply will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.01%. This is a positive change from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.10%.

Tractor Supply declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kurt D. Barton sold 12,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $680,176.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 47,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,672,040. This trade represents a 20.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew L. Rubin sold 3,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.69, for a total transaction of $222,106.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,787 shares in the company, valued at $1,833,792.03. This trade represents a 10.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 137,993 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,068 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Tractor Supply

Tractor Supply Company operates as a rural lifestyle retailer in the United States. The company offers various merchandise, including livestock and equine feed and equipment, poultry, fencing, and sprayers and chemicals; food, treats, and equipment for dogs, cats, and other small animals, as well as dog wellness products; seasonal and recreation products comprising tractors and riders, lawn and garden, bird feeding, power equipment, and other recreational products; truck, tool, and hardware products, such as truck accessories, trailers, generators, lubricants, batteries, and hardware and tools; and clothing, gift, and décor products consist of clothing, footwear, toys, snacks, and decorative merchandise.