Fisher Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 194,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 27,817 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $12,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SMG. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 18,313 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 23.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Five investment 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 31,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.67, for a total transaction of $2,159,770.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,746,012 shares in the company, valued at $957,684,656.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of SMG opened at $64.40 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of -10.32 and a beta of 1.77. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $43.67 and a 1-year high of $77.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 10.14% and a negative return on equity of 20.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -42.31%.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.