Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 40,265 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its Scotts Miracle-Gro position slightly in the fourth quarter, selling 40,265 shares and leaving it with 4,747,017 shares, or about 8.18% ownership worth roughly $277 million.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $4.53 EPS versus the $3.97 consensus and revenue of $1.46 billion, up 2.7% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but constructive: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $74, even as some firms have recently lowered targets or downgraded the shares.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,747,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 40,265 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.18% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $276,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.6% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 12,400 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $706,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.9% in the third quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 10,600 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.8% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,662 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.5% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,479 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,604,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 2.0%

SMG stock opened at $61.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.20. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $52.00 and a 12 month high of $72.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.12 and a beta of 1.88.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.97 by $0.56. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 79.61% and a net margin of 3.27%.The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.98 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is currently 147.49%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.40, for a total value of $3,320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,167,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $874,331,362.40. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer acquired 693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $71.44 per share, with a total value of $49,507.92. Following the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 15,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,098,032.80. This trade represents a 4.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 24.40% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SMG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.