Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $8.75 Million Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 29.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,958 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 41,446 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.18% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $8,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth about $866,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 672,556 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $43,756,000 after acquiring an additional 14,533 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 194.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 761,063 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,515,000 after acquiring an additional 502,353 shares in the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at approximately $10,162,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 202.2% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,140 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 16,821 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Six equities 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, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $856,127.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 51,631 shares in the company, valued at $3,891,428.47. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total value of $2,125,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,553,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,028,866,984.34. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock worth $4,410,268. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE SMG traded up $1.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.34. The company had a trading volume of 486,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 805,895. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -96.14 and a beta of 1.71. The company's fifty day moving average price is $76.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.88. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $53.43 and a 12 month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is presently -382.61%.

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.