The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Shares Purchased by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 433,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 46,450 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned about 0.75% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $26,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,569 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 149,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,227,000 after purchasing an additional 23,446 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 4,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 71.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 247,749 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,342,000 after purchasing an additional 102,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter valued at about $309,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $69.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.78 and a beta of 1.81. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $52.00 and a 1-year high of $75.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.97 by $0.56. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 3.27% and a negative return on equity of 79.61%. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.