Empowered Funds LLC Has $395,000 Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth about $698,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 24,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,622,000 after purchasing an additional 2,162 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 25,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 2.4 %

SMG opened at $63.78 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.92 and a 200 day moving average of $74.46. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of -132.87 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $56.01 and a 12 month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted ($1.45) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -549.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SMG. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total transaction of $2,125,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,553,774 shares in the company, valued at $1,028,866,984.34. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 218,164 shares of company stock worth $15,789,544 in the last three months. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.