First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 123,041 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMGFree Report) by 401.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 153,678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,041 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.26% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $9,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SMG. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,569 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 149,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,227,000 after purchasing an additional 23,446 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 4,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 1,219 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 71.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 247,749 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,342,000 after buying an additional 102,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $309,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,171 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total transaction of $80,002.72. Following the sale, the director directly owned 30,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,829.28. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 24.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.20.

Get Our Latest Analysis on SMG

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $65.72 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.15 and a beta of 1.81. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $52.00 and a one year high of $75.34.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMGGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 2.19% and a negative return on equity of 81.90%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 229.57%.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

(Free Report)

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG)

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