Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 14,145 Shares of Tractor Supply Company $TSCO

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC cut its holdings in Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 655,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 14,145 shares during the period. Tractor Supply makes up 1.2% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Tractor Supply were worth $37,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TSCO. Buckhead Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Tractor Supply by 310.3% in the third quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 36,863 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,096,000 after buying an additional 27,878 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in Tractor Supply by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 130,035 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,862,000 after acquiring an additional 7,871 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Tractor Supply by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 149,323 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,880,000 after acquiring an additional 46,471 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Tractor Supply by 356.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 6,426 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 5,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha bought a new position in shares of Tractor Supply in the third quarter worth approximately $5,069,000. Institutional investors own 98.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on TSCO shares. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Tractor Supply in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Argus dropped their price objective on Tractor Supply from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial set a $55.00 target price on Tractor Supply and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Tractor Supply from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Tractor Supply in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tractor Supply presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tractor Supply

In other Tractor Supply news, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 84,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.16, for a total value of $4,501,057.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 606,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,259,720.72. This represents a 12.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert D. Mills sold 62,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.12, for a total transaction of $3,406,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 122,834 shares in the company, valued at $6,647,776.08. This represents a 33.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 222,348 shares of company stock valued at $11,959,621. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Tractor Supply Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:TSCO opened at $51.77 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $27.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.74. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.09.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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%. Tractor Supply’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 24th. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.38%.

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.