Madison Asset Management LLC Sells 7,585 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Madison Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,585 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC owned about 0.18% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $6,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestrel Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,390,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 21.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 155,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,856,000 after buying an additional 27,422 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 230,966 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,692,000 after buying an additional 73,455 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 223.3% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 29,239 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 20,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 387,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,591,000 after acquiring an additional 34,350 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $68.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.27 and a beta of 1.81. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $52.00 and a 12-month high of $75.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.79.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 79.61% and a net margin of 3.27%.The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.