Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Reduces Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 199 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at $898,073,615.86. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’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 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. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $57.90 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $55.68 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -120.61 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.49 and a 200 day moving average of $72.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the business earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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.