HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 688 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 688 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SMG. PFG Investments LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $58.49 on Tuesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $55.68 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of -121.86 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.77.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on 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 raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

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.