Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Acquires 304,528 Shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) by 438.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 374,037 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 304,528 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Tractor Supply worth $19,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Tractor Supply by 1,674.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 18,492 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,380,000 after buying an additional 17,450 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Tractor Supply by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 351 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in Tractor Supply by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 79,532 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $23,138,000 after buying an additional 13,556 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Tractor Supply by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 830,193 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $241,528,000 after buying an additional 29,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Tractor Supply by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 631,406 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $183,695,000 after buying an additional 8,142 shares in the last quarter. 98.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TSCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Tractor Supply from $44.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Tractor Supply from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Tractor Supply in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Tractor Supply from $65.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Tractor Supply from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tractor Supply has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tractor Supply news, EVP Colin Yankee sold 24,602 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.15, for a total transaction of $1,332,198.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,645 shares in the company, valued at $1,821,876.75. This represents a 42.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 transaction of $222,106.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,833,792.03. The trade was 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 worth $7,538,068 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Tractor Supply Price Performance

Tractor Supply stock opened at $52.46 on Friday. Tractor Supply has a 12 month low of $48.30 and a 12 month high of $61.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.67. The company has a market cap of $28.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.85.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty retailer reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.28 by ($1.84). Tractor Supply had a return on equity of 49.01% and a net margin of 7.40%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Tractor Supply will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.01%. This is an increase from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.10%.

Tractor Supply declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to buy up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.