The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Sold by Barnett & Company Inc.

Barnett & Company Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,214 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Scotts Miracle-Gro accounts for about 2.1% of Barnett & Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Barnett & Company Inc. owned 0.09% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $3,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,203,000 after purchasing an additional 15,869 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,448,000 after acquiring an additional 14,730 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth $39,986,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,563,000 after acquiring an additional 331,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,918,000 after purchasing an additional 175,719 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SMG. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of 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, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.4 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $57.90 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -120.61 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $55.68 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.85.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company posted ($1.45) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 in the last 90 days. 25.37% of the stock is owned by 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.