The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Acquired by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 303,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,318 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.53% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $19,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SMG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,359,000 after acquiring an additional 542,406 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 479,315 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3,581.1% during the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 478,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,695,000 after acquiring an additional 465,546 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth $27,699,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 309.5% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 215,717 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,035,000 after buying an additional 163,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $6,038,270.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $965,232,321.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $6,038,270.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $965,232,321.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the business’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 sold 89,078 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,042. Insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG opened at $72.68 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.51 and a 200-day moving average of $68.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.65 and a beta of 1.75. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $43.67 and a 1-year high of $82.11.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -42.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.