Avior Wealth Management LLC Reduces Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Avior Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,194 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 94.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 65,557 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,265,000 after acquiring an additional 31,862 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 114,042 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,420,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 38,971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,621,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 567.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 77,424 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after purchasing an additional 65,824 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $856,127.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 51,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,891,428.47. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,390,090.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,616,399.68. The trade was a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock worth $4,410,268. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $73.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.38. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $53.43 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of -107.01 and a beta of 1.73.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.