The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 68.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $41,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after acquiring an additional 151,354 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,203,000 after purchasing an additional 15,869 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,448,000 after purchasing an additional 14,730 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 331,925 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8,330.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 281,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,405,000 after acquiring an additional 278,146 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SMG. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 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 set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:SMG opened at $67.29 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -140.18 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.82. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $54.74 and a twelve month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -549.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,001,998. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,616,399.68. This represents a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 204,528 shares of company stock valued at $14,879,354 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

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.