Benjamin Edwards Inc. Purchases 143,944 Shares of Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Tractor Supply Company by 16.6% during the first quarter, owning over 1 million shares valued at approximately $55.7 million.
• Tractor Supply reported a quarterly earnings of $0.81 per share, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, up 4.5% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.23, yielding 1.6%, to be paid on September 9th to shareholders of record by August 25th.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO - Free Report) by 16.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,010,704 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 143,944 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. owned 0.19% of Tractor Supply worth $55,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 4.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,631,422 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,671,391,000 after buying an additional 2,597,450 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 403.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,433,135 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,031,122,000 after buying an additional 15,575,311 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 334.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,429,288 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $818,421,000 after buying an additional 11,880,010 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 287.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,417,152 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $552,735,000 after buying an additional 7,729,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 398.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,233,999 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $436,899,000 after buying an additional 6,582,562 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $65.00 target price (up from $57.00) on shares of Tractor Supply in a report on Friday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.80.

Tractor Supply Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of TSCO traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $59.26. 3,277,404 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,828,440. The firm has a market cap of $31.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.08, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.75. 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 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $55.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.66.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. Tractor Supply had a return on equity of 46.83% and a net margin of 7.18%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Tractor Supply Company will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Tractor Supply Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. Tractor Supply's payout ratio is presently 45.10%.

Insider Transactions at Tractor Supply

In related news, CFO Kurt D. Barton sold 90,000 shares of Tractor Supply stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.96, for a total value of $5,756,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 47,715 shares in the company, valued at $3,051,851.40. The trade was a 65.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan S. Estep sold 35,825 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $2,006,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 74,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,177,880. This represents a 32.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 207,490 shares of company stock valued at $12,216,998 over the last three months. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Tractor Supply Company 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.