Keene & Associates Inc. Has $787,000 Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Keene & Associates Inc. decreased its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 639 shares during the quarter. Keene & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 218,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,498,000 after acquiring an additional 14,088 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 28,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,865,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 117,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 52,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,481,000 after purchasing an additional 4,120 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $65.24 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.11 and a 200 day moving average of $74.53. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $56.01 and a 12 month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -549.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $856,127.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 51,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,891,428.47. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value 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 approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 218,164 shares of company stock worth $15,789,544. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.