Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 15,637 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

by · The Markets Daily

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG – Free Report) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 15,637 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.17% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $8,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.3% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 80.1% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 25.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 135.2% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,788,173. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,689,665.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,078 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,042. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.00.

View Our Latest Report on SMG

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $87.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of -14.05 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.00 and its 200 day moving average is $70.43. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $43.67 and a 52-week high of $88.35.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.31%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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