Advisors Preferred LLC Makes New Investment in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 10,617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 24,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 2,162 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 25,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $67.29 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $54.74 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -140.18 and a beta of 1.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.72.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company posted ($1.45) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares in the company, valued at $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 204,528 shares of company stock valued at $14,879,354 in the last ninety days. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

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.