Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Purchases 121,812 Shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 331.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 158,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 121,812 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Tractor Supply were worth $8,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TSCO. Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in Tractor Supply by 286.2% in the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 475 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Tractor Supply by 400.0% in the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC grew its stake in Tractor Supply by 400.0% during the 4th quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in Tractor Supply by 400.0% during the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in Tractor Supply during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tractor Supply

In other Tractor Supply news, CEO Harry A. Lawton III sold 88,095 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.59, for a total transaction of $4,809,106.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 488,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,686,430.68. This represents a 15.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew L. Rubin sold 3,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.69, for a total value of $222,106.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,833,792.03. This trade represents a 10.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 137,993 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,068 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TSCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Tractor Supply in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Tractor Supply from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Tractor Supply from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Tractor Supply from $262.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.22.

Tractor Supply Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TSCO opened at $53.47 on Friday. Tractor Supply has a 1 year low of $48.30 and a 1 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. The company has a market capitalization of $28.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.65.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty retailer reported $0.44 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts predict that Tractor Supply will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Tractor Supply announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.88%. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.10%.

Tractor Supply 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.