New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,578 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $503,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 53.6% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after buying an additional 4,496 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 429.6% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,828 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 201.0% in the 3rd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 14,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 331,925 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $54.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -114.13 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $53.37 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.29.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 51.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.82%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on SMG shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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 Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

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.