Wealth Alliance Raises Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Wealth Alliance raised its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,994,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $348,326,000 after buying an additional 237,463 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,640,383 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $239,815,000 after purchasing an additional 35,002 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,208,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $263,801,000 after purchasing an additional 183,915 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 62.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,330,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $161,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283,911 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,711,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,106,000 after purchasing an additional 108,593 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.4 %

SMG stock opened at $67.95 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $77.95. The business’s 50-day moving average is $66.72 and its 200 day moving average is $59.53. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.65 and a beta of 1.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by $0.17. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $410.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.02) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -37.50%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $5,648,545.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,777,012 shares in the company, valued at $901,154,354.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $5,648,545.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,777,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $901,154,354.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492. Corporate insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SMG shares. Truist Financial cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.