TCG Advisory Services LLC Purchases New Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

TCG Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 48,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,071,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 826.3% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

NYSE SMG traded up $1.87 on Friday, reaching $70.54. The stock had a trading volume of 937,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 703,000. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $43.67 and a 1-year high of $77.95. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.30 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $69.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.11.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.57.

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.