Frazier Financial Advisors LLC Invests $45,000 in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SMG. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Investment House LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 61,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,059,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $57.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of -119.27 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.52 and a 200-day moving average of $72.48. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $55.68 and a 12 month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 posted ($1.45) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 in the last quarter. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on SMG shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

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.