Blue Trust Inc. Grows Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 83.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,201,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $338,421,000 after purchasing an additional 49,262 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.4% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,155,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,307,000 after purchasing an additional 42,500 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 542,406 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 815,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,048,000 after purchasing an additional 52,136 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 502,353 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.75.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $211,938.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,689,665.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 3.1 %

SMG opened at $89.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.96 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.96. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $48.29 and a 52-week high of $91.09.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.