UPDATE: BMO Capital Markets Reiterates Market Perform Rating, Raises PT on Tractor Supply Company

In a report published Friday, BMO Capital Markets reiterated its Market Perform rating on Tractor Supply Company

, and raised its price target from $97.00 to $113.00. BMO Capital Markets noted, “We had expected a potential earnings disappointment on a difficult sales and earnings comparison and slowing economic growth in the fourth quarter. However, 4Q12 EPS was of strong quality and better than expected on: 1) comp-store sales growth of 4.7%, which exceeded our and consensus estimates of 2.0% and 3.5%, respectively, and 2) better-than-expected gross margin of 33.01%, above our expectations of 32.71%. In addition, the company provided a more optimistic outlook than generally expected on the heels of a strong end to the fourth quarter.” Tractor Supply Company closed on Thursday at $103.67.