Geode Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Geode Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 705,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,961 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $46,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,684,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 16.1% in the fourth 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 112.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:SMG opened at $51.51 on Tuesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $46.45 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of -107.31 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) 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 business posted ($1.45) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.13%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by 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.