Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $1.40 Million Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC reduced its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 77.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 55,417 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 542,406 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 194.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 761,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,515,000 after acquiring an additional 502,353 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 479,315 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3,581.1% during the first quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 478,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,695,000 after acquiring an additional 465,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 309.5% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 215,717 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,035,000 after purchasing an additional 163,037 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of SMG stock opened at $90.14 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $91.09. The company has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of -14.45 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $76.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.92.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $6,038,270.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,608,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $965,232,321.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the company’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 $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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,078 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,042 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.75.

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.