Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Acquires 6,572 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 45.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 20,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,572 shares during the period. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 8.2 %

NYSE:SMG opened at $48.12 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.41. The company has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of -100.25 and a beta of 1.96. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $47.52 and a twelve month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.45) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.