Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Sells 573 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC decreased its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 573 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 23.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.3% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.5% in the third quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 9,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $66.54 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $69.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.62. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $43.67 and a 1-year high of $77.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.66 and a beta of 1.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.36. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 10.14% and a negative return on equity of 20.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -42.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at $1,314,347.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 102,750 shares of company stock worth $6,604,492. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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.