KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires New Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,900 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $590,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Investment House LLC grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 61,190 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,059,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company's stock.

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Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded up $1.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $52.52. 2,238,200 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 862,923. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $49.00 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.76. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of -109.41 and a beta of 1.96.

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) EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business posted ($1.45) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at $898,073,615.86. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.83.

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.