Yarbrough Capital LLC Grows Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Yarbrough Capital LLC increased its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 46.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,395 shares during the quarter. Yarbrough Capital LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,482,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 151.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 194,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,576,000 after acquiring an additional 117,314 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $823,000. Carmignac Gestion purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,411,000. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 71,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,528,000 after buying an additional 14,191 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Truist Financial lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.67, for a total value of $2,159,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,746,012 shares in the company, valued at $957,684,656.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 26.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG traded up $2.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $67.00. 4,216,975 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 813,429. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of -10.74 and a beta of 1.77. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $43.67 and a one year high of $77.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $67.52 and its 200 day moving average is $64.72.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 20.97% and a negative net margin of 10.14%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -42.31%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.