Vista Investment Partners LLC Sells 1,133 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Vista Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,144 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,133 shares during the quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SMG. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth about $746,000. Wealth Alliance grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 5,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 3,118 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 13,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth approximately $511,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total transaction of $74,832.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,788,173. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 26.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded down $0.31 on Friday, reaching $72.28. The company had a trading volume of 604,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 991,351. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of -11.58 and a beta of 1.76. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $43.67 and a 52-week high of $82.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.78.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.61 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, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -42.31%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company 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.