New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 822 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 212,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 822 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $13,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SMG. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter worth $28,336,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2,810.8% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 313,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,204,000 after buying an additional 302,776 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 484.4% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 314,997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,279,000 after buying an additional 261,097 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 595,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,801,000 after buying an additional 230,155 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4,927.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 228,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,546,000 after acquiring an additional 223,639 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.00.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at $1,314,347.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares in the company, valued at $810,671,891.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492 in the last ninety days. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 1.0 %

SMG opened at $68.45 on Tuesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $43.67 and a 12 month high of $77.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $410.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.83 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.02) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.69 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 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -37.50%.

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.