Atom Investors LP Makes New Investment in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Atom Investors LP bought a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 113,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,651,000. Atom Investors LP owned 0.20% of Scotts Miracle-Gro at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in 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 during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 5,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in 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 during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in 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 during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $63.05 on Wednesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $52.00 and a 52 week high of $72.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22 and a beta of 1.84.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on SMG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.67.

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.