Vista Investment Partners LLC Lowers Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Vista Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 11,577 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.3% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 80.1% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 135.2% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $89.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.91 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.80. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $43.67 and a 1-year high of $91.09.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -55.81%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,788,173. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at $1,788,173. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $211,938.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,689,665.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,078 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,042 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.75.

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.