James Hagedorn Sells 142,733 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Stock

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

James Hagedorn also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 4th, James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,390,090.24.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $69.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -144.88 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $53.43 and a one year high of $93.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.82.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently -549.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% during 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 during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at $44,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SMG shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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 note on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial lowered 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 note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 note on Thursday, November 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company 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.