Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Invests $1.98 Million in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 32,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned 0.06% of Scotts Miracle-Gro as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SMG. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,522,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,397,000 after acquiring an additional 16,298 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 161.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,289,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,443,000 after purchasing an additional 795,970 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,165,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,368,000 after purchasing an additional 265,677 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,157,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,553,000 after buying an additional 2,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,087,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,121,000 after acquiring an additional 51,148 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SMG. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of SMG opened at $69.89 on Tuesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $52.00 and a fifty-two week high of $75.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $63.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.04. The company has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.05 and a beta of 1.81.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 3.27% and a negative return on equity of 79.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Profile

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.