Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Buys Shares of 22,939 The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,939 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,338,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.9% in the third quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 10,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 9,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,479 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,604,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,796 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG stock opened at $56.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.54 and a beta of 1.84. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $52.00 and a one year high of $72.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.65.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.97 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 3.27% and a negative return on equity of 79.61%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently 147.49%.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.