7,672 Shares in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Bought by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,113,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $232,210,000 after buying an additional 479,315 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $203,359,000 after purchasing an additional 542,406 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 585,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,070,000 after purchasing an additional 15,569 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 559,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,948 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 545,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,760,000 after purchasing an additional 18,975 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 4.9 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $69.74 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $43.67 and a 12 month high of $82.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.18 and a beta of 1.75.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 7.38% and a negative return on equity of 41.19%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at $1,788,173. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $6,038,270.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,608,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $965,232,321.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total transaction of $74,832.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,788,173. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,078 shares of company stock worth $6,325,042. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.00.

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.