The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Sold by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA reduced its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 46,739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,107 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $4,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,359,000 after purchasing an additional 542,406 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 194.2% during 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 period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,113,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $232,210,000 after buying an additional 479,315 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3,581.1% during the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 478,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,695,000 after buying an additional 465,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8,330.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 281,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,405,000 after acquiring an additional 278,146 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.60.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE SMG opened at $72.99 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $48.29 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $80.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.40. The company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of -15.43 and a beta of 1.76.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported ($2.31) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.94) by ($0.37). Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 7.38% and a negative return on equity of 41.19%. The firm had revenue of $414.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $392.95 million. Research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is -55.81%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $6,038,270.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $965,232,321.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $6,038,270.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $965,232,321.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 26.46% of the stock is 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.