The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Acquired by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,592 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,275 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $4,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SMG. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth about $39,986,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,399,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 313.9% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 81,812 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,427,000 after buying an additional 62,044 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 534.3% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 42,424 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,814,000 after buying an additional 35,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $2,139,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.8 %

SMG traded up $0.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 231,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,031,837. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -108.25 and a beta of 1.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.36. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $46.45 and a 1 year high of $93.90.

Remove Ads

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 previous year, the firm earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 5.08%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is -550.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.83.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

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.