Christopher Hagedorn Sells 3,568 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Stock

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $69.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.82. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $53.43 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -144.88 and a beta of 1.74.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS 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 earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently -549.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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. UBS Group dropped their target price 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, 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 report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 115.8% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 218,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,498,000 after purchasing an additional 14,088 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 28,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,865,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 117,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.