Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,900 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 15,900 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.30% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $11,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth about $9,684,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $61,448,000 after acquiring an additional 14,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company insiders.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance
SMG stock remained flat at $53.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday. 1,953,362 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 905,398. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -111.60 and a beta of 1.96. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $46.45 and a twelve month high of $93.90. The firm's 50 day moving average is $57.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.93.
Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of 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. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.17.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Scotts Miracle-Gro
About Scotts Miracle-Gro
(
Free Report)
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.
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