Caprock Group LLC Buys 423 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after purchasing an additional 151,354 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,203,000 after acquiring an additional 15,869 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,563,000 after acquiring an additional 331,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8,330.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 281,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,405,000 after acquiring an additional 278,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $67.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -140.18 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $54.74 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $70.39 and its 200 day moving average is $74.72.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS 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 in the previous year, the business earned ($1.45) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -549.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total value of $2,125,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,553,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,028,866,984.34. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 51,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,891,428.47. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 204,528 shares of company stock valued at $14,879,354. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.