The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Sold by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. decreased its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 32,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,731 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SMG. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the third quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 30,264 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised 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 in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 over the last ninety days. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SMG shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note 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 for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:SMG traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,367,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,891. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.21 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $55.68 and a 52 week 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 the consensus estimate 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 earned ($1.45) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -550.00%.

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.