Tractor Supply Hit With A Slew Of Sell-Side Downgrades As Guidance Disappoints

The company likely initiated the first move downward with the announcement of its full-year earnings and revenue outlook reduction. Accordingly, the revised EPS forecast is $3.22–$3.26, compared to earlier guidance of $3.35–$3.40. Similarly, the sales forecast has been slashed from $6.8 billion–$6.9 billion to $6.7 billion–$6.75 billion. This is lower than analysts' estimates of $3.36 a share on $6.82 billion revenue.

Related Link: Wedbush On Tractor Supply: "Slower Growth Deserves Lower Valuation

This alone was enough for several brokerages to downgrade the stock on Thursday morning, which subsequently added further insult to injury and continued the investor sentiment decline. The following brokerages have given their ratings and target prices on Tractor Supply:

• Credit Suisse downgraded the shares from Outperform to Neutral. Price tag reduced from $96 to $72.
• Piper Jaffray downgraded from Overweight to Neutral.
• Deutsche Bank downgraded from Buy to Hold.
• Raymond James downgraded from Strong Buy to Market Perform.
• RBC Capital downgraded from Outperform to Sector Perform.
• BTIG downgraded from Buy to Neutral.
• Wedbush downgraded from Outperform to Neutral, with the price objective slashed from $96 to $72.
• However, counter to the trend, Cowen & Co. initiated coverage at Overweight.

Following the downgrades and downbeat forecast, the stock plunged to $69.58, down $13.95, or 16.7 percent.

Full ratings data available on Benzinga Pro.