HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 8,448 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 27.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,448 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $866,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 309.5% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 215,717 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,035,000 after buying an additional 163,037 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.2% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 672,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,756,000 after buying an additional 14,533 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 194.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 761,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,515,000 after acquiring an additional 502,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at $10,162,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SMG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $75.16 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $53.43 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of -108.93 and a beta of 1.71.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -382.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $856,127.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 51,631 shares in the company, valued at $3,891,428.47. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total value of $38,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,553,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 58,227 shares of company stock valued at $4,410,268. 26.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.