The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Sold by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System decreased its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.2% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,113,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $232,210,000 after buying an additional 479,315 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $203,359,000 after acquiring an additional 542,406 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 585,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,070,000 after acquiring an additional 15,569 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 559,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 545,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,760,000 after purchasing an additional 18,975 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.00.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $6,038,270.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $965,232,321.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,078 shares of company stock worth $6,325,042. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $71.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of -11.39 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $68.39 and a 200-day moving average of $67.66. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $43.67 and a 52-week high of $82.11.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.31%.

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.