Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 3,500 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 42,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.07% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,807,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Investment House LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 61,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,059,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG stock opened at $52.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -108.77 and a beta of 1.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.82 and its 200 day moving average is $69.61. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $46.45 and a 52 week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 in the last three months. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.