The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Purchased by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 21.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,819 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 216,304 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,873,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter worth about $226,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 74,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,088,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $68.54 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $45.61 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.44 and a 200 day moving average of $61.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 137.08 and a beta of 2.01.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.04% and a negative return on equity of 56.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 528.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.67.

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.