73,800 Shares in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Purchased by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 73,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,306,000. ING Groep NV owned about 0.13% of Scotts Miracle-Gro at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,522,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,397,000 after purchasing an additional 16,298 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 29.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,165,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,368,000 after purchasing an additional 265,677 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 14.5% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,154,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,767,000 after purchasing an additional 146,192 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,036,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,462,000 after purchasing an additional 314,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.3% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 898,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,171,000 after purchasing an additional 187,130 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $57.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 32.15 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.68. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $52.00 and a 1-year high of $72.35.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.97 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 3.27% and a negative return on equity of 79.61%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.67.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Profile

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.