Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 521 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 521 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,162,000. Algert Global LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 202.2% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,180,000 after buying an additional 16,821 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after buying an additional 151,354 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,110,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 63.5% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 56,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,884,000 after buying an additional 21,872 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $62.23 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.72 and a 200 day moving average of $73.57. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $55.68 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -129.63 and a beta of 1.79.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, 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 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $856,127.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 51,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,891,428.47. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 171,296 shares of company stock valued at $12,235,403. 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.