Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG stock opened at $71.85 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $53.43 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -149.68 and a beta of 1.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.61.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 62.12%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.45) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total value of $2,125,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,553,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,028,866,984.34. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,616,399.68. This trade represents a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock worth $4,410,268 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

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.