The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Stock Position Raised by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,526,538 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,341 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 7.88% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $300,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SMG. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Investment House LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 61,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,059,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced 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. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, 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 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at $898,073,615.86. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $51.35 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $49.39 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.92. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.98 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business posted ($1.45) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.14%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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.