AGF Management Ltd. Invests $2.12 Million in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 32,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,124,000. AGF Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Scotts Miracle-Gro as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SMG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth $243,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth $227,000. Metis Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth $218,000. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of SMG stock opened at $60.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -126.22 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.23 and a 200-day moving average of $73.20. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $55.68 and a 1-year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

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.