Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,201,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,262 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned about 0.09% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $338,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 42,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,202,000 after purchasing an additional 18,060 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.4% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 230,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,218,000 after buying an additional 35,825 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 155.1% during the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 37,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,773,000 after buying an additional 22,599 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 309.5% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 215,717 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,035,000 after acquiring an additional 163,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carmignac Gestion bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,411,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $73.95 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $43.67 and a twelve month high of $82.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $70.16 and its 200 day moving average is $68.68. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.85 and a beta of 1.75.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,788,173. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total transaction of $74,832.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,788,173. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $211,938.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,078 shares of company stock worth $6,325,042 in the last three months. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.00.

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.