Sei Investments Co. Decreases Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Sei Investments Co. trimmed its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 108,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,683 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.19% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $7,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. RBF Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,601,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 331,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,448,000 after purchasing an additional 14,730 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of SMG opened at $54.92 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of -114.41 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $53.37 and a 12-month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.45) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.81%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped 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. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.