Centerstone Investors LLC Sells 7,734 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Centerstone Investors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 40.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,734 shares during the quarter. Scotts Miracle-Gro comprises approximately 1.1% of Centerstone Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Centerstone Investors LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,453,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $39,986,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,434,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,136,000 after purchasing an additional 286,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,689,000 after purchasing an additional 264,369 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of SMG stock opened at $60.85 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.45. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $45.61 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of -126.76 and a beta of 1.98.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.69 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 528.00%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.