Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Has $17.17 Million Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 258,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,850 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $17,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last three months. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE SMG opened at $51.14 on Wednesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $46.45 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.76 and a 200-day moving average of $70.23. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of -106.54 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is -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.