Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Has $3.34 Million Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 732 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $3,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of SMG opened at $58.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -122.00 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $58.17 and a 12-month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -550.00%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,553,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,045,499,556.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,164 shares of company stock valued at $13,664,064 over the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.