Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. Sells 4,605 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,605 shares during the quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,640,383 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,815,000 after buying an additional 35,002 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,711,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,106,000 after acquiring an additional 108,593 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,011,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,295,000 after purchasing an additional 119,115 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.8% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 903,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,717,000 after purchasing an additional 143,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 62.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 595,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,801,000 after buying an additional 230,155 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.3 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.38. The stock had a trading volume of 169,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,907. The firm has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.74 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.38 and a 200 day moving average of $60.14. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $43.67 and a 52-week high of $77.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by $0.17. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. The company had revenue of $410.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.02) earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -37.50%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total value of $876,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,881,368 shares in the company, valued at $810,671,891.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,750 shares of company stock worth $6,604,492 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company 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.