The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) CEO James Hagedorn Sells 142,733 Shares

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

James Hagedorn also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 4th, James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,390,090.24.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.4 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $69.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -144.88 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $53.43 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.86 and a 200-day moving average of $74.82.

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, 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 last year, the company posted ($1.45) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.38 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, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -549.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lowered 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SMG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 94.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 65,557 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,265,000 after purchasing an additional 31,862 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter valued at about $541,000. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 177.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 13,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% 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.