Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Acquires 286,962 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 157.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 469,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 286,962 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC owned about 0.82% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $31,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SMG. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter worth $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 over the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 1.2 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $53.73 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.04. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $46.45 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -111.94 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

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.