The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Sold by Barnett & Company Inc.

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. reduced its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,214 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,000 shares during the period. Scotts Miracle-Gro makes up approximately 2.0% of Barnett & Company Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Barnett & Company Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 31.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 1.8%

SMG traded down $1.13 on Thursday, hitting $62.62. 344,748 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,071,877. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 82.39 and a beta of 1.97. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $45.61 and a twelve month high of $93.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.21.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.40. The firm 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%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is presently 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $826,721,784.72. The trade was a 0.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.