Duality Advisers LP Makes New $511,000 Investment in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,010 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SMG. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $28,336,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2,810.8% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 313,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,204,000 after acquiring an additional 302,776 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 484.4% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 314,997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,279,000 after acquiring an additional 261,097 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 62.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 595,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,801,000 after acquiring an additional 230,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4,927.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 228,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,546,000 after acquiring an additional 223,639 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:SMG opened at $67.65 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $43.67 and a twelve month high of $77.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $67.76 and a 200-day moving average of $60.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.61 and a beta of 1.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by $0.17. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 11.52% and a negative return on equity of 44.37%. The company had revenue of $410.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.02) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -37.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,881,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $810,671,891.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 102,750 shares of company stock worth $6,604,492. Corporate insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on SMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.