Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Buys 286,962 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 157.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 469,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 286,962 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $31,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter worth $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted 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 worth $41,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 1.2 %

SMG stock opened at $53.73 on Tuesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $46.45 and a twelve month high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -111.94 and a beta of 1.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.04.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.45) EPS. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently -550.00%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SMG shares. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.17.

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.