Investment House LLC Acquires 195 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Investment House LLC boosted its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $4,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,203,000 after purchasing an additional 15,869 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,448,000 after purchasing an additional 14,730 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,986,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 331,925 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $59.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -124.57 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $65.97 and its 200 day moving average is $73.09.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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.