Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Holdings in Tractor Supply Company $TSCO

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 300,205 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,118 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Tractor Supply were worth $17,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TSCO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Tractor Supply by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,679,109 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,571,427,000 after buying an additional 1,047,687 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,002,120 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,213,822,000 after acquiring an additional 150,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $808,341,000 after purchasing an additional 316,595 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 123.4% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,079,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $795,735,000 after purchasing an additional 8,329,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 41.9% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 12,713,409 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $670,887,000 after purchasing an additional 3,753,414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 84,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 606,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,259,720.72. This trade represents a 12.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kurt D. Barton sold 1,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,736 shares in the company, valued at $2,413,059.84. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Tractor Supply Stock Up 0.9%

TSCO opened at $54.53 on Thursday. Tractor Supply Company has a 12 month low of $46.85 and a 12 month high of $63.99. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $52.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $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.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty retailer reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 44.36% and a net margin of 7.06%.Tractor Supply’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Tractor Supply Company will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TSCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Tractor Supply from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $55.00 price target on Tractor Supply in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Tractor Supply from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Tractor Supply from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on Tractor Supply from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.