Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 32,240 The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 32,240 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,139,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Scotts Miracle-Gro at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SMG. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.00.

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Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.1 %

SMG stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.23. 901,855 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 790,854. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $55.68 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.63 and a beta of 1.79.

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 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 earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $856,127.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 51,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,891,428.47. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 171,296 shares of company stock worth $12,235,403. Insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

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.