Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Invests $39.43 Million in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 594,428 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $39,434,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned approximately 1.03% of Scotts Miracle-Gro as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,986,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 553.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 189,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $12,549,000 after buying an additional 160,225 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,684,000. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth about $9,474,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of SMG traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $53.88. 903,837 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 949,395. The company's 50-day moving average price is $55.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.71. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -112.25 and a beta of 1.98. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $45.61 and a 52-week high of $93.90.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 528.00%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at $898,073,615.86. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

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.