Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 32,240 The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 32,240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,139,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SMG. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 30,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 in the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered their price target 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 reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $59.91 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.00. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $55.68 and a twelve month high of $93.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of -124.81 and a beta of 1.79.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. 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.