Parthenon LLC Has $2.81 Million Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Parthenon LLC decreased its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,832 shares during the period. Parthenon LLC owned about 0.08% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $2,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SMG. 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 worth $203,359,000 after buying an additional 542,406 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.2% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,113,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $232,210,000 after buying an additional 479,315 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3,581.1% in the first 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,699,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,482,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total transaction of $74,832.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at $1,788,173. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $6,038,270.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,608,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $965,232,321.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,788,173. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,078 shares of company stock worth $6,325,042 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $66.46 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $43.67 and a 1-year high of $82.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $68.98 and a 200-day moving average of $68.32.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -42.31%.

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.