Long Road Investment Counsel LLC Has $755,000 Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Long Road Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,375 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Long Road Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $275,082,000 after purchasing an additional 151,354 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,203,000 after purchasing an additional 15,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,448,000 after purchasing an additional 14,730 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $39,986,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,563,000 after acquiring an additional 331,925 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE:SMG opened at $61.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -127.67 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $55.68 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SMG. UBS Group decreased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

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.