Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Sells 82,552 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. reduced its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 32.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 168,214 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 82,552 shares during the quarter. Scotts Miracle-Gro accounts for approximately 0.7% of Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.29% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $9,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.9% in the third quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 10,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.5% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 5,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,479 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,604,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.1% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,796 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SMG. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.67.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $61.71 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $52.00 and a fifty-two week high of $72.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.47 and a beta of 1.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 79.61% and a net margin of 3.27%.The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.49%.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.