Truist Financial Corp Has $5.39 Million Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Truist Financial Corp lowered its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 84,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,643 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $5,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth $28,336,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 302,776 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 484.4% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 314,997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,279,000 after purchasing an additional 261,097 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 62.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 595,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,801,000 after purchasing an additional 230,155 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4,927.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 228,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,546,000 after purchasing an additional 223,639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG stock opened at $70.54 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.18. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $43.67 and a fifty-two week high of $77.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 20.97% and a negative net margin of 10.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently -42.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $5,648,545.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,777,012 shares in the company, valued at $901,154,354.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.