Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Trims Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 48.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,825 shares during the quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,201,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $338,421,000 after acquiring an additional 49,262 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.4% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,155,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,307,000 after acquiring an additional 42,500 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,359,000 after acquiring an additional 542,406 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 815,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,048,000 after acquiring an additional 52,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 194.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 761,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,515,000 after buying an additional 502,353 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.75.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $86.74 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $43.98 and a one year high of $91.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.90 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.36.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $6,038,270.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $965,232,321.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $6,038,270.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $965,232,321.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at $1,788,173. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,078 shares of company stock worth $6,325,042. 26.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.