Marshall Wace LLP Buys 87,340 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 202.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 130,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,340 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $8,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth about $39,986,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 258,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,170,000 after buying an additional 2,850 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 219,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,439,000 after acquiring an additional 9,684 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 218,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,498,000 after acquiring an additional 14,088 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,684,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % 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. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded 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. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 3.3 %

SMG opened at $53.07 on Wednesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $46.45 and a twelve month high of $93.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -110.55 and a beta of 1.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.04.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -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.