Empower Advisory Group LLC Sells 4,649 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 55.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,649 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 170.8% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 9,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 6,091 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,110,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.5% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of SMG opened at $74.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -107.84 and a beta of 1.76. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $53.43 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.63.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -382.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $6,038,270.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,608,238 shares in the company, valued at $965,232,321.34. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,689,665.60. This represents a 7.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 26.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on SMG shares. UBS Group cut 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial cut 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 report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.60.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.