39,300 Shares in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Purchased by Kestrel Investment Management Corp

Kestrel Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 39,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,390,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,522,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,397,000 after acquiring an additional 16,298 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,157,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,899 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.9% in the first quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,087,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,121,000 after purchasing an additional 51,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.3% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 898,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,171,000 after purchasing an additional 187,130 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $70.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $73.25 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.92 and a beta of 1.81. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $52.00 and a fifty-two week high of $75.30.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by $0.56. The business 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors 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 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. 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.