60,417 Shares in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Acquired by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 60,417 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $4,008,000. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.11% of Scotts Miracle-Gro as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 733.0% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 883 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $503,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $9,684,000. Finally, Parametrica Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,061,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 884,295. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of -106.54 and a beta of 1.96. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $46.45 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.36.

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Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.45) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company'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 directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 in the last ninety days. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.83.

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.