Insider Selling: The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Director Sells 12,123 Shares of Stock

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $898,073,615.86. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 2nd, Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total transaction of $38,570.00.
• On Wednesday, November 27th, Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total transaction of $2,125,480.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE SMG opened at $66.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -138.84 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $56.01 and a twelve month high of $93.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.67.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -549.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at $39,986,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 331,925 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8,330.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 281,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,405,000 after purchasing an additional 278,146 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,918,000 after purchasing an additional 175,719 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after purchasing an additional 151,354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lowered their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

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.