Investment House LLC Purchases 195 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Investment House LLC grew its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Investment House LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $4,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,849 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. CV Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $385,000. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 18,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $6,399,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of SMG stock opened at $59.79 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.09. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $55.68 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -124.57 and a beta of 1.79.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly 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 quarter last year, the business earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $898,073,615.86. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.