Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 43,124 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 44.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,078 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 43,124 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.09% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $3,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SMG. Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter valued at about $866,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 672,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,756,000 after buying an additional 14,533 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 194.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 761,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,515,000 after acquiring an additional 502,353 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at $10,162,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 202.2% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after acquiring an additional 16,821 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $70.29 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of -101.87 and a beta of 1.73. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $71.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.13. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $53.43 and a 52-week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -382.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total transaction of $38,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,553,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,390,090.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,616,399.68. The trade was a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock valued at $4,410,268. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.83.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. The company provides lawn care products, comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, and other durable products, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; and gardening and landscape products, which include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes, garden soils, mulches and ground cover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and live goods and seeding solutions.