Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Has $217,000 Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,274 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 304 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,203,000 after purchasing an additional 15,869 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $39,986,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 331,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,918,000 after purchasing an additional 175,719 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $57.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -120.61 and a beta of 1.79. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $55.68 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the company posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

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.