Arizona State Retirement System Has $774,000 Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 221 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 20.8% during the second quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 3,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,229,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $227,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth approximately $164,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE:SMG opened at $69.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $69.12 and its 200-day moving average is $68.44. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $43.67 and a 52-week high of $82.11. The company has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.18 and a beta of 1.75.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at $1,788,173. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $211,938.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,689,665.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,788,173. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 89,078 shares of company stock worth $6,325,042. Corporate insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

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.