Summit Global Investments Buys New Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,368 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $350,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,453,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,986,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,434,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,136,000 after acquiring an additional 286,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,689,000 after acquiring an additional 264,369 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SMG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $58.56. 569,869 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 964,682. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -122.00 and a beta of 1.98. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $55.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.45.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.95 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.69 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is currently 528.00%.

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.