Bleakley Financial Group LLC Sells 55,417 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lowered its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 77.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,092 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 55,417 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Compass Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 67,626 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,863,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.2% in the third quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,370 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $812,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth approximately $2,507,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,275 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 6,934 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total transaction of $74,832.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,788,173. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $6,038,270.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares in the company, valued at $965,232,321.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,788,173. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,078 shares of company stock worth $6,325,042 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.75.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $90.14. The company had a trading volume of 440,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 806,210. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.92. The stock has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.45 and a beta of 1.76. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $43.67 and a 12 month high of $91.09.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is -42.31%.

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.