New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $14.50 Million Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 218,541 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 14,088 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.38% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $14,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SMG. Creative Planning grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,275 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,898 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8,330.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 281,485 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $24,405,000 after purchasing an additional 278,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $260,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded down $2.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $58.61. The company had a trading volume of 806,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,940. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $58.50 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of -122.09 and a beta of 1.74. The business's 50 day moving average price is $67.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.13.

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) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the business posted ($1.45) EPS. On average, research 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total value of $38,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,553,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,164 shares of company stock worth $13,664,064 over the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.