Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,317 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SMG. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth $9,684,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,448,000 after purchasing an additional 14,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of SMG opened at $49.91 on Thursday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $46.45 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of -103.98 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -550.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 over the last 90 days. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.