Wellington Management Group LLP Makes New $4.01 Million Investment in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 60,417 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $4,008,000. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.11% of Scotts Miracle-Gro as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,809 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 24,456 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 2,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,429 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded up $1.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $66.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,685,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 974,313. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -138.75 and a beta of 1.99. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $45.61 and a twelve month high of $93.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $55.81 and a 200-day moving average of $63.11.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is 528.00%.

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.