Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $799,000 Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 18.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,700 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after buying an additional 151,354 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,203,000 after purchasing an additional 15,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,448,000 after purchasing an additional 14,730 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 331,925 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,918,000 after purchasing an additional 175,719 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,164 shares of company stock worth $13,664,064. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $58.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -122.00 and a beta of 1.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.36 and a 200-day moving average of $73.95. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $58.17 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -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.