Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $2.88 Million Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 820 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 135.2% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.23. The company had a trading volume of 199,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 811,306. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $43.67 and a one year high of $77.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.06 and a beta of 1.76.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.36. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 10.14% and a negative return on equity of 20.97%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -42.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Truist Financial cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.67, for a total value of $2,159,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,746,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,684,656.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.