The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Position Reduced by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,284 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Investment House LLC increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 61,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,059,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.2 %

SMG opened at $54.78 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $63.57 and its 200-day moving average is $72.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of -114.13 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $53.37 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, 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 quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.