Natixis Advisors LLC Has $13.75 Million Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 207,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,051 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $13,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth $227,000. Metis Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth about $218,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at about $220,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at about $421,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth approximately $227,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SMG. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on 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. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 over the last three months. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG opened at $59.91 on Thursday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $55.68 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -124.81 and a beta of 1.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $65.82 and its 200-day moving average is $73.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced 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 net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

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.