Candlestick Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Tractor Supply Company $TSCO

Candlestick Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 919,039 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $52,266,000. Tractor Supply comprises about 1.3% of Candlestick Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tractor Supply by 8.0% during the third quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Tractor Supply by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,036 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,936,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors raised its stake in Tractor Supply by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 16,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Tractor Supply by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 4,514 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Tractor Supply by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 12,771 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 98.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TSCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Tractor Supply from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Tractor Supply and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Tractor Supply in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Tractor Supply from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Tractor Supply in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.78.

Tractor Supply Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ TSCO opened at $47.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.72. Tractor Supply Company has a 12 month low of $46.85 and a 12 month high of $63.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.23 and a 200-day moving average of $54.21.

Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty retailer reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.03). Tractor Supply had a return on equity of 44.36% and a net margin of 7.06%.The company had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. Tractor Supply’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Tractor Supply Company will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Tractor Supply Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Tractor Supply’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 24th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Tractor Supply’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jonathan S. Estep sold 59,745 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.03, for a total transaction of $3,228,022.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 80,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,372,701.93. The trade was a 42.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kurt D. Barton sold 1,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.94, for a total value of $104,050.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,413,059.84. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 222,348 shares of company stock worth $11,959,621 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

About Tractor Supply

Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ: TSCO) is a specialty retailer focused on products for the home, farm, ranch and outdoors. The company operates a network of physical retail locations complemented by an e-commerce platform, offering a one-stop source of supplies and equipment for customers with rural and suburban lifestyles. Its merchandise assortment targets a range of needs, from animal and livestock care to maintenance, outdoor power equipment, and seasonal products.

Product categories include animal feed and supplies, pet products, fencing and fencing supplies, equine equipment, lawn and garden tools, work clothing and footwear, and small agricultural and outdoor power equipment.