Barnett & Company Inc. Cuts Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Key Points

• Barnett & Company Inc. has reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 12.2%, owning 43,214 shares after selling 6,000 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro at an average price of $62.28, reducing their ownership by 0.52%.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, with a yield of 4.5%, to be paid on September 5th.

Barnett & Company Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 12.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,214 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Scotts Miracle-Gro comprises about 2.0% of Barnett & Company Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Barnett & Company Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,645,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $254,979,000 after buying an additional 118,729 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $53,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,689,000 after buying an additional 264,369 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,986,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,434,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE SMG traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $59.70. The company had a trading volume of 898,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 898,834. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.96 and a 200 day moving average of $61.20. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $45.61 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.55 and a beta of 1.97.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is 347.37%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total transaction of $4,359,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares in the company, valued at $826,721,784.72. This represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SMG. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.17.

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.