American Century Companies Inc. Raises Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 534.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 42,424 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,736 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SMG. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.4% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 429.6% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,828 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 2,294 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter worth $275,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 229,255 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $19,877,000 after buying an additional 1,754 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $124,203,000 after acquiring an additional 15,869 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.83.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. Insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $51.11. 1,458,990 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 881,351. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.48 and a beta of 1.96. The stock's 50 day moving average is $59.46 and its 200 day moving average is $70.69. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $46.45 and a 12-month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is -550.00%.

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.