Moors & Cabot Inc. Has $419,000 Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,082 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $417,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $27,699,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $83,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of SMG opened at $74.55 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $82.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.95 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $69.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.58.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently -42.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.