The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Holdings Raised by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 64.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,546 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,162,000. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 202.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after acquiring an additional 16,821 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $275,082,000 after acquiring an additional 151,354 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,110,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 63.5% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 56,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,884,000 after buying an additional 21,872 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on SMG shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total value of $38,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,553,274 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 218,164 shares of company stock worth $15,789,544 over the last 90 days. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $63.78 on Thursday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $56.01 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of -132.87 and a beta of 1.74.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.45) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 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, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -549.99%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company 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.