Brandes Investment Partners LP Has $6.09 Million Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Brandes Investment Partners LP lowered its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,782 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,962 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $6,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of SMG stock opened at $60.59 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.23 and a 200-day moving average of $73.22. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $55.68 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -126.22 and a beta of 1.79.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued 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 net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

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.