RBF Capital LLC Buys Shares of 30,000 The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

RBF Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 30,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,601,000. RBF Capital LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Scotts Miracle-Gro as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SMG. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,049 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.3% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 551 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,944 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE SMG traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $76.25. 328,143 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 811,151. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $82.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -110.07 and a beta of 1.71. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $53.43 and a twelve month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is -382.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,390,090.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,616,399.68. This trade represents a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total transaction of $38,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,553,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,868 shares of company stock valued at $3,554,140. 26.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.