Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 661,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 16,901 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $43,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SMG. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 valued at $124,203,000 after acquiring an additional 15,869 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $39,986,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 219,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,439,000 after purchasing an additional 9,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 218,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,498,000 after purchasing an additional 14,088 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on SMG shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 reduced their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised shares of 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, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 4.2 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $50.40 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -104.99 and a beta of 1.96. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $46.45 and a 52-week high of $93.90.

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 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.24%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.