Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Sells 8,924 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC decreased its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 91.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 849 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,924 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $56,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SMG. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 30,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 2.4 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $59.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.97 and a 200 day moving average of $73.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -124.57 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $55.68 and a 12-month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

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.