Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Trims Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG – Get Rating) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 154,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,506 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $7,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,046,743 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,499,000 after buying an additional 385,514 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,179,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 114.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 323,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,813,000 after buying an additional 172,564 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 528,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,667,000 after buying an additional 147,241 shares during the period. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 96.1% in the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 226,559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,009,000 after buying an additional 111,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.98% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $69.04 on Monday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $102.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.82, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.86.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The basic materials company reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a positive return on equity of 81.02% and a negative net margin of 16.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Investors of record on Friday, May 26th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 25th. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -23.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $1,675,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 179,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,053,233. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 27.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Profile

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Scotts Miracle-Gro Co engages in the manufacturing, marketing, and sale of products for lawn and garden care and indoor and hydroponic gardening. Its products and services include lawn care, gardening and landscape, hydroponic hardware and growing environments, lighting, controls, and marketing agreement.