The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. trimmed its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,336 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Keene & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 11,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 1,745 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $746,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 34,006 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after buying an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $412,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4,927.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 228,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,546,000 after buying an additional 223,639 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $66.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.75. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by $0.17. The business had revenue of $410.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.02) earnings per share. Equities 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -37.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SMG. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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 report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.00.

Insider Activity

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.