96,461 Shares in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Purchased by Madison Investment Advisors LLC

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 96,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $6,399,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Scotts Miracle-Gro as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. De Lisle Partners LLP purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter worth $10,162,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 202.2% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,140 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 16,821 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 63.5% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 56,337 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,884,000 after purchasing an additional 21,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded down $1.44 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.04. 118,001 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 808,912. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $55.68 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -118.85 and a beta of 1.79. The stock's fifty day moving average is $65.29 and its 200 day moving average is $72.77.

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Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the company posted ($1.45) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.