Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 8,121 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 112,839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,121 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $7,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,113,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $232,210,000 after acquiring an additional 479,315 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,359,000 after purchasing an additional 542,406 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 545,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,760,000 after purchasing an additional 18,975 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3,581.1% during the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 478,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,695,000 after buying an additional 465,546 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,699,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total transaction of $74,832.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at $1,788,173. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG stock traded down $0.70 on Friday, reaching $71.89. 81,669 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 839,695. The company has a 50-day moving average of $67.29 and a 200-day moving average of $66.54. The company has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.64 and a beta of 1.76. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $43.67 and a one year high of $82.11.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 7.38% and a negative return on equity of 41.19%. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -42.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.00.

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.