IHT Wealth Management LLC Makes New $275,000 Investment in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,201,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $338,421,000 after acquiring an additional 49,262 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after acquiring an additional 151,354 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.4% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,155,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,307,000 after acquiring an additional 42,500 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 815,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,048,000 after acquiring an additional 52,136 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $49,515,000 after acquiring an additional 502,353 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,390,090.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,616,399.68. This represents a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total value of $38,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,553,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,045,499,556.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,868 shares of company stock valued at $3,554,140 over the last ninety days. 26.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $74.44 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.55. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $53.43 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -107.88 and a beta of 1.71.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -382.61%.

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.