Corient Private Wealth LLC Sells 2,581 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Corient Private Wealth LLC reduced its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 30,090 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,581 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,203,000 after purchasing an additional 15,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,448,000 after buying an additional 14,730 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $39,986,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,563,000 after acquiring an additional 331,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,918,000 after acquiring an additional 175,719 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of SMG stock opened at $58.49 on Tuesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $55.68 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $65.29 and its 200-day moving average is $72.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -121.86 and a beta of 1.79.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business posted ($1.45) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.51%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

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.