Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 2,374 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lowered its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,374 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,203,000 after buying an additional 15,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,448,000 after acquiring an additional 14,730 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,986,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,563,000 after acquiring an additional 331,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,918,000 after purchasing an additional 175,719 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $255,112.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last 90 days. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $57.90 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $55.68 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -120.61 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.