Empower Advisory Group LLC Sells 696 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Empower Advisory Group LLC decreased its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 696 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $10,162,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 202.2% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,180,000 after buying an additional 16,821 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after buying an additional 151,354 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $1,110,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 63.5% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 56,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,884,000 after buying an additional 21,872 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total value of $38,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,553,274 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 218,164 shares of company stock valued at $15,789,544 in the last 90 days. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $62.84 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.38. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $56.01 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of -130.92 and a beta of 1.74.

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 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 period last year, the firm posted ($1.45) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -549.99%.

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.