Vista Investment Partners II LLC Buys Shares of 4,615 Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC purchased a new position in Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,615 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baldwin Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply by 0.3% during the third quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 11,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,317,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Tractor Supply by 0.7% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 5,538 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,611,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Tractor Supply by 13.2% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 351 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tractor Supply by 4.6% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 958 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC increased its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 2.8% during the third quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,529 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on TSCO shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Tractor Supply in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Tractor Supply from $44.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Tractor Supply from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on Tractor Supply from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 88,095 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.59, for a total transaction of $4,809,106.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,686,430.68. This trade represents a 15.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Matthew L. Rubin sold 3,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.69, for a total value of $222,106.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,833,792.03. This represents a 10.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 137,993 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,068 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Tractor Supply Price Performance

Shares of Tractor Supply stock opened at $56.89 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $30.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.76. Tractor Supply has a one year low of $48.30 and a one year high of $61.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty retailer reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by ($1.84). Tractor Supply had a return on equity of 49.01% and a net margin of 7.40%. Equities analysts expect that Tractor Supply 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 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.92 dividend. This is an increase from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Tractor Supply’s payout ratio is presently 45.10%.

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

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.