SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 390 The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SMG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 115.8% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SMG shares. UBS Group cut 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. 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 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 3.8 %

SMG stock opened at $59.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -124.27 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $55.68 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.38.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) 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 period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend 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.