Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Buys 2,177 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG – Get Rating) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,177 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2,575.0% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 115.1% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 262.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 453.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. 68.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $1,675,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 179,899 shares in the company, valued at $12,053,233. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 27.28% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $68.83 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.35 and a 200-day moving average of $65.99. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $102.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.82. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of -6.14 and a beta of 1.63.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 26th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 25th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -23.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SMG. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Barclays downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $100.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

(Get Rating)

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.