Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 311 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 311 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $6,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 90.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 7.2% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 4,724 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SMG. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares in the company, valued at $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 171,296 shares of company stock valued at $12,235,403 in the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE SMG opened at $59.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -124.85 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $55.68 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.79.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.45) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently -550.00%.

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.