Edgestream Partners L.P. Has $1.37 Million Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lowered its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 63.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 35,636 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,986,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,563,000 after buying an additional 331,925 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,918,000 after buying an additional 175,719 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after acquiring an additional 151,354 shares during the period. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,162,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $61.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of -127.97 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $55.68 and a one year high of $93.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.53.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. 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 4.30%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is -550.00%.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.