Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Has $880,000 Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC raised its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 21,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,314 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,595 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total value of $876,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $810,671,891.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total value of $876,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 1.8 %

SMG traded down $1.22 on Friday, reaching $66.74. The stock had a trading volume of 524,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 590,741. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.49 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $66.94 and a 200-day moving average of $59.66. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $43.67 and a fifty-two week high of $77.95.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -37.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.