Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 12,500 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 154.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,597 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 21.9% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,819 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 1st quarter valued at $226,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,684,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the first quarter valued at $1,011,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.52. 555,102 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,089,458. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $45.61 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.63 and a beta of 1.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.61.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.40. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro's revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is currently 347.37%.

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.