AGF Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 32,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,124,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the third quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 30,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $898,073,615.86. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last ninety days. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of SMG opened at $60.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -126.22 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $66.23 and a 200 day moving average of $73.20. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $55.68 and a 12 month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (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 in the prior year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SMG shares. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 started 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

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.