Bank of America Corp DE Sells 112,329 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 23.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 375,109 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 112,329 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.65% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $24,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SMG. UBS Group dropped 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. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG stock opened at $62.45 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.89. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $45.61 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of -130.10 and a beta of 1.98.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.69 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 528.00%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.

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