Balentine LLC Trims Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Balentine LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,699,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,482,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thornburg Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,399,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. StockNews.com upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Truist Financial cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $64.94 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.14. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $43.67 and a 1 year high of $77.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 20.97% and a negative net margin of 10.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -42.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 31,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.67, for a total transaction of $2,159,770.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,746,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $957,684,656.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.