Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 573 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned 0.06% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $1,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $73,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 31.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 90.0% during the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $58.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 76.96 and a beta of 1.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $64.91 and its 200-day moving average is $61.45. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $45.61 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently 347.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total value of $4,359,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $826,721,784.72. This represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company 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.