LPL Financial LLC Grows Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,275 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.11% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $4,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,203,000 after purchasing an additional 15,869 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,448,000 after buying an additional 14,730 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,986,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 219,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,439,000 after buying an additional 9,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 218,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,498,000 after acquiring an additional 14,088 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 9.5 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $52.78 on Thursday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $46.45 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of -109.95 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently -550.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.83.

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.