Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Has $3.08 Million Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 29.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,691 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $3,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 42,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,202,000 after purchasing an additional 18,060 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 230,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,218,000 after purchasing an additional 35,825 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 155.1% in the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 37,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,773,000 after purchasing an additional 22,599 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 309.5% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 215,717 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,035,000 after purchasing an additional 163,037 shares during the period. Finally, Carmignac Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,411,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.00.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,788,173. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,788,173. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $6,038,270.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,608,238 shares in the company, valued at $965,232,321.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,078 shares of company stock worth $6,325,042. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $69.74 on Monday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $82.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.18 and a beta of 1.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.12 and its 200-day moving average is $68.48.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.31%.

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.