Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 68.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,786 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,092 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.8 %
Shares of SMG stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,061,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 884,295. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $46.45 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.36. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -106.54 and a beta of 1.96.
Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.
Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -550.00%.
Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro
In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last three months. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have issued reports on SMG. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.83.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on SMG
About Scotts Miracle-Gro
(
Free Report)
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.
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