Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 602,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,986,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $9,684,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,399,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,855,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 313.9% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 81,812 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,427,000 after acquiring an additional 62,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $4,008,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $51.14 on Wednesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $46.45 and a one year high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of -106.54 and a beta of 1.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.76 and a 200-day moving average of $70.23.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) 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 in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

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.