The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Purchased by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 736 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.07% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SMG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,359,000 after buying an additional 542,406 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,113,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $232,210,000 after purchasing an additional 479,315 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3,581.1% in the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 478,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,695,000 after purchasing an additional 465,546 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 309.5% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 215,717 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,035,000 after purchasing an additional 163,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,341,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $86.54 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $43.67 and a one year high of $88.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.66. The stock has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.85 and a beta of 1.76.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 7.38% and a negative return on equity of 41.19%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently -42.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.00.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,689,665.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,689,665.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total transaction of $74,832.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,788,173. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 89,078 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,042. Corporate insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

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.