9,935 Shares in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 9,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,807,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Investment House LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 61,190 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,059,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,664 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE SMG traded down $0.55 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.32. 103,683 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 961,343. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.75 and a beta of 1.98. The business's 50-day moving average price is $55.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.69. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $45.61 and a twelve month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is currently 528.00%.

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.