Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. reduced its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 33.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,012 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $67,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 10.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $717,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

NYSE:SMG opened at $66.16 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.64. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $56.01 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -137.82 and a beta of 1.74.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -549.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total transaction of $38,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,553,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 218,164 shares of company stock valued at $15,789,544. Company insiders own 25.37% 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.