Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 4,515 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Verition Fund Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 6.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 61,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,515 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $5,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,201,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $338,421,000 after purchasing an additional 49,262 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after purchasing an additional 151,354 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,155,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,307,000 after buying an additional 42,500 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 815,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,048,000 after buying an additional 52,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 194.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 761,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,515,000 after buying an additional 502,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total value of $2,125,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,553,774 shares in the company, valued at $1,028,866,984.34. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $76.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of -110.70 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $82.64 and a 200-day moving average of $73.21. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $53.43 and a one year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -382.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.60.

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.