Bank of Montreal Can lowered its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG – Get Rating) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,272 shares of the basic materials company stock after selling 1,001 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $ 2,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 88,757 shares of the basic materials company stock valued at $ 14,290,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $ 379,000. Covestor Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $ 50,000. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $ 798,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $ 385,000. 62.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
SMG stock opened at $ 96.59 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $ 106.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $ 132.83. The stock has a market cap of $ 5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 1.19. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $ 87.11 and a 1 year high of $ 207.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.44, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.13.
Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 3rd. The basic materials company reported $ 5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $ 4.69 by $ 0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 42.22%. The firm had revenue of $ 1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $ 1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $ 5.64 EPS. The company revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 27th will be given a $ 0.66 dividend. This represents a $ 2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 26th. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.08%.
In other news, EVP James D. King sold 17,500 shares of the company stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $ 98.42, for a total value of $ 1,722,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,760 shares of the company stock, valued at approximately $ 960,579.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 2,305 shares of the company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $ 113.36, for a total transaction of $ 261,294.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,233 shares in the company, valued at $ 2,293,612.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 79,805 shares of company stock valued at $ 7,848,045. Corporate insiders own 27.31% of the company stock.
A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SMG. Barclays downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $ 150.00 to $ 110.00 in a report on Thursday, April 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 21st. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $ 185.00 to $ 150.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $ 130.00 to $ 116.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $ 145.00 to $ 130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $ 158.44.
About Scotts Miracle-Gro: (Get Rating)
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: US Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. It 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 include 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 lives goods and seeding solutions.
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