Granite Investment Partners LLC Makes New $9.47 Million Investment in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 142,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,474,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SMG. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $39,986,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,684,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,399,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth about $5,855,000. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 233.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 90,958 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,034,000 after purchasing an additional 63,641 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG opened at $51.11 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.69. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.45 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.48 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.17%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.83.

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.