Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Grows Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL raised its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 44,559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,769 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 148.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 13,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 8,042 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 63.5% in the 1st quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 138,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,328,000 after purchasing an additional 53,747 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 241,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,041,000 after purchasing an additional 32,700 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 32,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $6,038,270.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares in the company, valued at $965,232,321.34. This represents a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. The trade was a 7.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.60.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $74.41 on Monday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $53.43 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -107.84 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.69.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -382.61%.

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.