The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Sold by TD Private Client Wealth LLC

TD Private Client Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 476 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at $220,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at $421,000. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 30,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.4 %

SMG stock opened at $57.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -120.61 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.83. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $55.68 and a 52 week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share 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 previous year, the business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -550.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

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.