The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) EVP Christopher Hagedorn Sells 3,568 Shares

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $255,112.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares in the company, valued at $4,001,998. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SMG opened at $69.54 on Wednesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $53.43 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.82. The firm has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of -144.88 and a beta of 1.74.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -549.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 94.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 65,557 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,265,000 after buying an additional 31,862 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter valued at about $541,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 7.1% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 177.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 13,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.