Pavion Blue Capital LLC Has $1.58 Million Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Pavion Blue Capital LLC cut its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,743 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,175 shares during the period. Pavion Blue Capital LLC’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SMG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $50,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. 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 research report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 4.1 %

SMG stock opened at $60.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -125.66 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $56.01 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.33.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -549.99%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,390,090.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,426 shares in the company, valued at $6,616,399.68. This trade represents a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 218,164 shares of company stock worth $15,789,544 in the last quarter. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.