Fox Run Management L.L.C. Invests $490,000 in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,203,000 after buying an additional 15,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,448,000 after acquiring an additional 14,730 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth about $39,986,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 331,925 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,918,000 after purchasing an additional 175,719 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $56.77 on Wednesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $55.68 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -118.27 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 in the last three months. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.