Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 558,604 The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 558,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,595,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.96% of Scotts Miracle-Gro at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 584 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 156.7% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 127.9% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SMG. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.67.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of SMG stock opened at $57.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15 and a beta of 1.84. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $52.00 and a twelve month high of $72.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.68.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 79.61% and a net margin of 3.27%.Scotts Miracle-Gro’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently 147.49%.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.