The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Short Interest Down 20.7% in January

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,650,000 shares, a decrease of 20.7% from the January 15th total of 3,340,000 shares. Currently, 6.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 815,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,390,090.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,616,399.68. This trade represents a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total transaction of $38,570.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,553,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,045,499,556.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 218,164 shares of company stock valued at $15,789,544. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SMG. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $940,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth $2,507,000. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 67,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,863,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 1.0 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $66.65 on Friday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 52-week low of $56.01 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -138.84 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.64 and its 200 day moving average is $74.67.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -549.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on SMG. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.83.

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.