JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reduced its stake in Tractor Supply Company by 7.0%, now holding approximately 10 million shares valued at around $554.7 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Scotia Capital Inc. and Rockefeller Capital Management, have significantly increased their holdings in Tractor Supply, with some up by over 400% in the last quarter.
• Tractor Supply recently announced a $0.23 quarterly dividend, indicating a 1.5% yield and a 45.10% payout ratio as it continues to report healthy quarterly earnings growth.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its position in shares of Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,067,639 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 754,015 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.89% of Tractor Supply worth $554,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSCO. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Tractor Supply in the first quarter valued at $7,677,000. Cynosure Group LLC increased its position in Tractor Supply by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 7,176 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Tractor Supply during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in Tractor Supply by 92.9% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 240,200 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $13,235,000 after purchasing an additional 115,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tractor Supply in the 1st quarter worth approximately $204,000. 98.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Tractor Supply from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Tractor Supply from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group upped their target price on Tractor Supply from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Tractor Supply from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on Tractor Supply from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.80.

Tractor Supply Stock Performance

Tractor Supply stock traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,132,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,589,200. Tractor Supply Company has a 12-month low of $46.85 and a 12-month high of $63.99. The company has a market capitalization of $31.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $55.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.76.

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

Tractor Supply Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Tractor Supply's payout ratio is currently 45.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jonathan S. Estep sold 35,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $2,006,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Denise L. Jackson sold 1,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total transaction of $68,152.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 31,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,820,695.50. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 204,680 shares of company stock valued at $12,071,552 over the last three months. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.