New York State Common Retirement Fund Buys 14,088 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 218,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 14,088 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.38% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $14,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total transaction of $2,125,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,553,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,028,866,984.34. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,164 shares of company stock valued at $15,789,544. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

NYSE SMG opened at $60.32 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $68.39 and its 200 day moving average is $74.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of -125.66 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $56.01 and a 1 year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.45) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio 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.