Marshall Wace LLP Buys 87,340 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 202.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 130,540 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 87,340 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.23% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $8,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SMG. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,986,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 258,825 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $17,170,000 after acquiring an additional 2,850 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 219,532 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $14,439,000 after acquiring an additional 9,684 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 218,541 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $14,498,000 after purchasing an additional 14,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $9,684,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $53.07 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.04. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $46.45 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of -110.55 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company 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.

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