Fisher Asset Management LLC Has $6.51 Million Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Fisher Asset Management LLC cut its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 311 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $6,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Versor Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 17,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 4,408 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $2,139,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 115.8% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 218,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,498,000 after buying an additional 14,088 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. 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 Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 7.2 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $59.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -124.85 and a beta of 1.74. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $55.68 and a 1-year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its 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 return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.45) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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 $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 171,296 shares of company stock worth $12,235,403 in the last quarter. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

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.