Atria Investments Inc Has $2.56 Million Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Atria Investments Inc decreased its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,661 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc owned about 0.07% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on SMG. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $255,112.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $62.23 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -129.63 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.59. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.45) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

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.