Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Acquires 2,553 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 21,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.9% during the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.7% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,314 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,595 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $5,648,545.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,777,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $901,154,354.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 102,750 shares of company stock worth $6,604,492 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of SMG traded down $1.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $66.74. The company had a trading volume of 524,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 590,741. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $43.67 and a 52-week high of $77.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.49 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.66.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.62) by $0.17. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. The company had revenue of $410.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.02) EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -37.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Truist Financial downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.