Madison Asset Management LLC Buys 14,924 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Madison Asset Management LLC increased its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,924 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC owned about 0.19% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $6,114,000 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. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,453,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,986,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,434,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,136,000 after acquiring an additional 286,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,689,000 after acquiring an additional 264,369 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.33. 697,764 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 630,627. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 138.66 and a beta of 2.01. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $93.90. The company's 50 day moving average is $64.52 and its 200 day moving average is $61.85.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.95 by $0.03. The firm 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SMG shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $54.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.