Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Buys 2,850 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 258,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,850 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned about 0.45% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $17,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 61.0% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 28,101 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 10,645 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,448,000 after buying an additional 14,730 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 58,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 7,206 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $51.14 on Wednesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $46.45 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.23. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of -106.54 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

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.