Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 20,196 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank increased its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 223.3% in Q4, buying 20,196 shares to hold 29,239 shares (about 0.05% of the company) worth $1.71 million.
• Analysts are mixed but overall positive with four Buy and four Hold ratings, an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.17, while individual targets range roughly $67–$79.
• Scotts reported Q4 EPS of ($0.77), beating estimates and generating $354.4M in revenue (down 3.3% YoY), and it declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share (4.0% yield) payable June 5 with an ex-dividend date of May 22.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 223.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,239 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,196 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.05% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $1,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 201.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 527 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 584 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 156.7% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group set a $67.00 price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $65.58 on Wednesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $72.35. The company has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.61 and a beta of 1.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.04) by $0.27. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 2.68% and a negative return on equity of 68.59%. The business had revenue of $354.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.89) earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.27 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is currently 179.59%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

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

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.

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