Investors Research Corp Has $905,000 Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Investors Research Corp trimmed its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,648 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 in the last 90 days. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE:SMG opened at $62.23 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $66.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.59. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.63 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $55.68 and a 52-week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.45) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -550.00%.

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.