New York State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 4,120 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 52,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,120 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $3,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $698,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 24,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 2,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $60.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.39 and a 200-day moving average of $74.30. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of -125.66 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $56.01 and a 52-week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Truist Financial decreased their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.83.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total value of $38,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,553,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 218,164 shares of company stock valued at $15,789,544 over the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.