Everpar Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Everpar Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 7.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,782 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,359,000 after buying an additional 542,406 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.2% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,113,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $232,210,000 after acquiring an additional 479,315 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3,581.1% in the first quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 478,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,695,000 after acquiring an additional 465,546 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $27,699,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $12,482,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.28. The stock had a trading volume of 604,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 991,351. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of -11.58 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.70. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $43.67 and a twelve month high of $82.11.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -42.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,788,173. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.