Centerstone Investors LLC Has $2.09 Million Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Centerstone Investors LLC lifted its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 25.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,028 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 6,173 shares during the period. Scotts Miracle-Gro comprises approximately 2.5% of Centerstone Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Centerstone Investors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 70.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $68.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $86.00 to $70.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.86.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:SMG traded up $1.14 on Monday, hitting $54.32. 204,440 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 766,055. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.22 and a beta of 1.65. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $88.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.50, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.93.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 3.59% and a positive return on equity of 91.85%. The business’s revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 25th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -108.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 47,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.86, for a total value of $2,383,058.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,993,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $697,739,842.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 6,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.43, for a total transaction of $357,578.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 125,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,932,352.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 47,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.86, for a total value of $2,383,058.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,993,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $697,739,842.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 126,480 shares of company stock valued at $6,655,981 in the last ninety days. 27.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is involved in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of 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, other durable products, and outdoor cleaners, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; gardening and landscape products comprising water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes and garden soils, mulch and decorative groundcover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and live goods and seeding solutions.