Global Retirement Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Global Retirement Partners LLC reduced its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 27.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,428 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 532 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $95,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. De Lisle Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,162,000. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 202.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,180,000 after buying an additional 16,821 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after buying an additional 151,354 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,110,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 63.5% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 56,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,884,000 after acquiring an additional 21,872 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,390,090.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,616,399.68. The trade was a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,164 shares of company stock valued at $13,664,064. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 3.5 %

NYSE:SMG opened at $58.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.56 and a 200 day moving average of $74.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -122.09 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $58.50 and a 52 week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.45) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

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.