Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $39,986,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth about $39,434,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,136,000 after buying an additional 286,962 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 553.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 189,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $12,549,000 after buying an additional 160,225 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $9,684,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $62.83. 885,167 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 964,447. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $45.61 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of -130.89 and a beta of 1.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.89.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors 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 yield of 4.20%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 528.00%.

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.