James Hagedorn Sells 18,368 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Stock

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,390,090.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,426 shares in the company, valued at $6,616,399.68. This trade represents a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $75.47 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $53.43 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -109.38 and a beta of 1.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.43.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -382.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.60.

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.