American International Group Inc. Sells 2,426 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

American International Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,426 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $3,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,640,383 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $239,815,000 after buying an additional 35,002 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,711,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,106,000 after acquiring an additional 108,593 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,183,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $139,226,000 after purchasing an additional 25,863 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,011,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,295,000 after purchasing an additional 119,115 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 62.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 595,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,801,000 after purchasing an additional 230,155 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $67.04 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of -10.74 and a beta of 1.77. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $43.67 and a 52-week high of $77.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.36. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is -42.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.00.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 31,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.67, for a total value 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 SEC, which is available through this link. 26.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.