Lion Street Advisors LLC Sells 250 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Lion Street Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after purchasing an additional 151,354 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,203,000 after buying an additional 15,869 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $61,448,000 after buying an additional 14,730 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 valued at $31,563,000 after buying an additional 331,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8,330.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 281,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,405,000 after acquiring an additional 278,146 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG opened at $69.46 on Thursday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $53.43 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -144.70 and a beta of 1.74. The business’s fifty day moving average is $70.74 and its 200-day moving average is $74.78.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given 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 dividend payout ratio is currently -549.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,390,090.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,616,399.68. The trade was a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 204,528 shares of company stock worth $14,879,354 over the last three months. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

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.