Wells Fargo & Company MN Decreases Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Wells Fargo & Company MN reduced its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,031,037 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 18,808 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 1.79% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $68,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,953,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth about $5,855,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,664 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $4,008,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 733.0% in 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. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.83.

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Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $51.65. 164,432 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 880,234. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.60. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $46.45 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -107.60 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 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 in the prior year, the company earned ($1.45) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -550.00%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company 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.