Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 62,044 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 313.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 81,812 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,044 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $5,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

NYSE SMG opened at $57.90 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $65.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.85. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $55.68 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -120.61 and a beta of 1.79.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.45) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

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.