Jones Financial Companies Lllp Purchases 3,322 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 125.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,322 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,563,000 after buying an additional 331,925 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,918,000 after acquiring an additional 175,719 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $275,082,000 after acquiring an additional 151,354 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at $10,162,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 344.2% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 80,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,974,000 after purchasing an additional 62,327 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SMG shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five 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, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE SMG opened at $62.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.46. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $55.68 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -129.21 and a beta of 1.79.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.45) EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

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.