Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 535,223 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,842 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.93% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $29,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $2,139,000. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 83,900 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,566,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $6,399,000. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,849 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment House LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 61,190 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,059,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE SMG traded down $0.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $66.65. 23,706 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,086,529. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.29 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.81. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $45.61 and a 1 year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 56.15% and a net margin of 1.04%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.69 EPS. Research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is 528.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $71.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.83.

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.