Parthenon LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Parthenon LLC decreased its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,925 shares during the quarter. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $3,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 151.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 194,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,576,000 after acquiring an additional 117,314 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at $823,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 126.7% during the third quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 63,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,278,000 after buying an additional 35,456 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at $746,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 59,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,810,000 after buying an additional 18,756 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SMG. Truist Financial lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

NYSE SMG traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $68.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,914,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 747,420. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $43.67 and a 12 month high of $77.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.70. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.75 and a beta of 1.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by $0.17. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. The company had revenue of $410.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.83 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.02) EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -37.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $5,648,545.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,777,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $901,154,354.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 102,750 shares of company stock worth $6,604,492 in the last three months. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.