The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 784 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.07% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 135.2% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 80.1% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.3% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,689,665.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $6,038,270.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $965,232,321.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,078 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,042. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of SMG opened at $85.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of -13.67 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.07. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $43.67 and a fifty-two week high of $88.35.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 7.38% and a negative return on equity of 41.19%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -42.31%.

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.