The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Acquired by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP grew its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 34.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,408 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SMG. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 70.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,611 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 90.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $267,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total value of $38,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,553,274 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value 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 approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,164 shares of company stock worth $13,664,064 over the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

NYSE SMG opened at $58.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of -122.09 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.02. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $58.50 and a 1-year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.