Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Sells 181 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 181 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $83,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE:SMG traded down $1.44 on Friday, hitting $66.38. 563,302 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 861,009. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.64 and a beta of 1.77. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $43.67 and a 52 week high of $77.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.56.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 20.97% and a negative net margin of 10.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -42.31%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 31,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.67, for a total transaction of $2,159,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,746,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $957,684,656.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

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.