Clearline Capital LP Buys 90,980 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Clearline Capital LP increased its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 520.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 90,980 shares during the quarter. Clearline Capital LP’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $6,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SMG. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 12,034.5% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,008,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,529,000 after buying an additional 1,000,311 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 458.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 822,743 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $54,268,000 after buying an additional 675,493 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 362.8% during the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 737,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,036,000 after buying an additional 578,174 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $32,595,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 163.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 899,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,344,000 after buying an additional 557,647 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $62.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 34.99 and a beta of 1.84. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.03. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $52.00 and a 12 month high of $72.35.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.97 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 79.61% and a net margin of 3.27%.The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is 147.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.67.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.