Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 72,179 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 895,841 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 72,179 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.54% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $54,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestrel Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,390,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 230,966 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $14,692,000 after purchasing an additional 73,455 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 223.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 29,239 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,706,000 after purchasing an additional 20,196 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 387,170 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $22,591,000 after purchasing an additional 34,350 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 154.9% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 51,956 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 31,570 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

NYSE:SMG opened at $65.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.15 and a beta of 1.81. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $52.00 and a 1 year high of $75.34. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $64.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.27.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 81.90% and a net margin of 2.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 229.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,171 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total value of $80,002.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,061,829.28. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 24.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SMG shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $75.20.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.

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