The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,043 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.12% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $4,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $39,986,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 219,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,439,000 after purchasing an additional 9,684 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 218,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,498,000 after buying an additional 14,088 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,684,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 117,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,811,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $898,073,615.86. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SMG. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $51.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $57.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.15. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $46.45 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of -106.89 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company posted ($1.45) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.15%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

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.