Gabelli Funds LLC Trims Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $2,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 14,730 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5,300.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 7,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 112.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 4.8 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $52.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -108.77 and a beta of 1.96. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $46.45 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.61.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded 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 research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.17.

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.