Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 207,230 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,051 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.36% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $13,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at $39,986,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 331,925 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,918,000 after purchasing an additional 175,719 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $275,082,000 after purchasing an additional 151,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at $10,162,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have issued reports on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on SMG
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 88,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last three months. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.4 %
Shares of SMG traded down $1.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,125,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 807,710. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.49 and a 200 day moving average of $72.83. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -120.61 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $55.68 and a 1 year high of $93.90.
Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (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 company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is -550.00%.
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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