AlphaQuest LLC Purchases 3,448 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 127.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SMG. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Zacks Research downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.17.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total transaction of $3,569,011.66. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,217,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $832,975,735.82. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer acquired 1,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $61.32 per share, for a total transaction of $109,762.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $621,171.60. This represents a 21.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 3.7%

NYSE SMG opened at $53.95 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $58.43 and its 200 day moving average is $60.35. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $45.61 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 70.99 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.40. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 60.46% and a net margin of 1.54%.The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.