New York State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 4,120 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,120 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $3,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SMG. Creative Planning raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.2% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% during 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8,330.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 281,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,405,000 after purchasing an additional 278,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at $260,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 note on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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 target price for the company. UBS Group dropped 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped 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 note on Friday, November 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $60.32 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $56.01 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -125.66 and a beta of 1.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $68.39 and a 200-day moving average of $74.30.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total transaction of $2,125,480.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,553,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,028,866,984.34. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $856,127.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 51,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,891,428.47. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,164 shares of company stock worth $15,789,544 in the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.