The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Sold by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lessened its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,911 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $2,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the third quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 25.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SMG shares. 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 $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.50.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $856,127.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 51,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,891,428.47. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total value of $38,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,553,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,045,499,556.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock worth $4,410,268. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 1.0 %

SMG opened at $72.46 on Wednesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $53.43 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.86. The firm has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -105.01 and a beta of 1.71.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -382.61%.

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.