MML Investors Services LLC Decreases Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

MML Investors Services LLC lessened its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 554 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC owned 0.09% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $3,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,986,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 553.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 189,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,549,000 after purchasing an additional 160,225 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $9,684,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $9,474,000. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,399,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $53.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -110.48 and a beta of 1.96. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $46.45 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.38.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -550.00%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,001,998. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on SMG. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.17.

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.