Norges Bank Invests $9.68 Million in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 145,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,684,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.25% of Scotts Miracle-Gro at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE:SMG opened at $48.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -100.25 and a beta of 1.96. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $47.52 and a one year high of $93.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.41.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro 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 sale, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

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.