Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 145,982 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $9,684,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.25% of Scotts Miracle-Gro as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $39,986,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,399,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in 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 last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 122,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,577,000 after buying an additional 49,500 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 534.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 in the last three months. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages recently weighed in on SMG. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.83.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on SMG
Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance
Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded up $0.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $51.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,458,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,797. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.60. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.45 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -106.48 and a beta of 1.96.
Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share 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 last year, the business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is presently -550.00%.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile
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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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