The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Position Increased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank raised its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $5,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SMG. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. UBS Group lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE SMG opened at $57.90 on Monday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $55.68 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.85. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of -120.61 and a beta of 1.79.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the company posted ($1.45) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $898,073,615.86. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 25.37% 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.