EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Purchases 14,862 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. increased its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 59.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,028 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,862 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. owned about 0.07% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter worth about $50,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $56.77 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.70. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $55.68 and a one year high of $93.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -118.27 and a beta of 1.79.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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.