Keene & Associates Inc. Sells 431 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Keene & Associates Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,509 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 431 shares during the period. Keene & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 80.1% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.75.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.1 %

SMG opened at $86.62 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.88 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $77.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.19. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $43.98 and a 52-week high of $91.09.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 7.38% and a negative return on equity of 41.19%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at $1,788,173. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,788,173. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,689,665.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,078 shares of company stock worth $6,325,042. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by 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.