The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG – Get Rating) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 80,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,538 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $9,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,477,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 147.1% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 10,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 6,099 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,021,000 after acquiring an additional 2,942 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $329,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $439,000. 62.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.74, for a total transaction of $5,864,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 261,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,589,895.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.74, for a total value of $5,864,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 261,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,589,895.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James D. King sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.42, for a total transaction of $1,722,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $960,579.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 27.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE SMG opened at $80.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $72.58 and a 52 week high of $180.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of -16.72 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.88.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.28. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 6.36% and a positive return on equity of 36.80%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 25th. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -54.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SMG. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $116.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 14th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $185.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 8th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.88.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Profile

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The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. It provides lawn care products comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, other durable products, and outdoor cleaners, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; gardening and landscape products include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes and garden soils, mulch and decorative groundcover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and lives goods and seeding solutions.