Insider Selling: The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) COO Sells 2,988 Shares of Stock

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $71.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of -11.50 and a beta of 1.76. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $43.67 and a 52 week high of $82.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.03.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 135.2% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 80.1% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on SMG. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.00.

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.