Parametrica Management Ltd Invests $203,000 in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Parametrica Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Investment House LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 61,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,059,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 30,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 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. UBS Group dropped 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro 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 transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % 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 worth $11,379,275 in the last three months. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $56.77 on Wednesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $55.68 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -118.27 and a beta of 1.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

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

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.