Versor Investments LP Purchases 4,408 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Versor Investments LP boosted its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 34.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,208 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,408 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP's holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 331,925 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $275,082,000 after buying an additional 151,354 shares during the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth about $10,162,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 344.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 80,434 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,974,000 after buying an additional 62,327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered 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 lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded down $2.72 on Monday, hitting $55.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,204,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 786,923. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -116.35 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.00. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $55.70 and a 1-year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the company posted ($1.45) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.73%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is presently -550.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,390,090.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,616,399.68. The trade was a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $856,127.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 51,631 shares in the company, valued at $3,891,428.47. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 189,664 shares of company stock valued at $13,625,494. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.