Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 62,044 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 313.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,812 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 62,044 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.14% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $5,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $124,203,000 after acquiring an additional 15,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $61,448,000 after buying an additional 14,730 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,986,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,563,000 after acquiring an additional 331,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,918,000 after purchasing an additional 175,719 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 13,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. Insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE SMG traded down $1.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $57.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 503,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 808,912. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $55.68 and a twelve month high of $93.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -119.02 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.29 and a 200 day moving average of $72.77.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -550.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SMG. UBS Group reduced their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued 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 $74.00.

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.