Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 7,578 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Cetera Investment Advisers decreased its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 17.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 34,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,578 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $2,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,986,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,434,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,136,000 after acquiring an additional 286,962 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 553.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 189,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,549,000 after acquiring an additional 160,225 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,684,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on SMG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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 research report on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $62.45 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -130.10 and a beta of 1.98. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $93.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.89.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. The company’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.69 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is 528.00%.

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.