Leeward Investments LLC MA Sells 1,592 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Leeward Investments LLC MA lessened its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 59,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,592 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $3,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,640,383 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $239,815,000 after buying an additional 35,002 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,711,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,106,000 after buying an additional 108,593 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,011,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,295,000 after buying an additional 119,115 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 903,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,717,000 after buying an additional 143,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 595,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,801,000 after buying an additional 230,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,881,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,881,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492. 26.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $67.75. The stock had a trading volume of 627,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,463. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.62 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.39. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $43.67 and a fifty-two week high of $77.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $410.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.83 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 11.52% and a negative return on equity of 44.37%. The firm’s revenue was down 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.02) EPS. Research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -37.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.00.

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.