Moment Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)

Moment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,620 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TSCO. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Tractor Supply by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 286 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Tractor Supply by 8.0% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 17,726 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in Tractor Supply by 0.4% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 46,930 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,653,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Tractor Supply by 17.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 163,454 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $47,554,000 after purchasing an additional 11,584 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.72% of the company’s stock.

Tractor Supply Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TSCO opened at $53.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.20. Tractor Supply has a one year low of $48.30 and a one year high of $61.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.66. The company has a market capitalization of $28.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Tractor Supply declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a positive change from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.83%. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio is 45.10%.

Insider Activity

In other Tractor Supply news, SVP Matthew L. Rubin sold 3,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.69, for a total transaction of $222,106.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,833,792.03. This represents a 10.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 88,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.59, for a total value of $4,809,106.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,686,430.68. This represents a 15.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,993 shares of company stock worth $7,538,068. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on TSCO. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Tractor Supply in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Tractor Supply from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased their target price on Tractor Supply from $262.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 30th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Tractor Supply from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Tractor Supply in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Tractor Supply has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.22.

Tractor Supply Profile

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.