Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Buys 18,756 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 45.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 18,756 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $3,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 16,606 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $858,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of SMG stock opened at $68.51 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $67.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.19. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $43.67 and a 52 week high of $77.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of -9.73 and a beta of 1.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.62) by $0.17. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 11.52% and a negative return on equity of 44.37%. The firm had revenue of $410.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.02) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -37.50%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,881,368 shares in the company, valued at $810,671,891.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,881,368 shares in the company, valued at $810,671,891.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,750 shares of company stock worth $6,604,492 over the last three months. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SMG. Truist Financial cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.