New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 81,591 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 204,453 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 81,591 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $17,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $203,359,000 after acquiring an additional 542,406 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 194.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 761,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,515,000 after purchasing an additional 502,353 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,113,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $232,210,000 after purchasing an additional 479,315 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3,581.1% during the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 478,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,695,000 after purchasing an additional 465,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8,330.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 281,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,405,000 after purchasing an additional 278,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $6,038,270.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,608,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $965,232,321.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 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 $6,038,270.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,608,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $965,232,321.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $211,938.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 2.2 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $93.52 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $80.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.19. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.77 and a beta of 1.76. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $48.29 and a 12 month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -55.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.25.

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.