Compass Financial Management LLC Takes Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 31,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,162,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestrel Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 1st quarter valued at $2,390,000. Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter worth about $7,163,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 182.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 66,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,057,000 after acquiring an additional 43,066 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 223.3% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 29,239 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 20,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 16.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 658,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,050,000 after acquiring an additional 92,614 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Mark D. Kingdon sold 831 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total value of $51,231.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $667,484.55. The trade was a 7.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 30,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.45, for a total value of $2,023,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,137,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,133,885.45. The trade was a 0.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,002 shares of company stock worth $2,154,734. Insiders own 24.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SMG shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Friday, July 31st. 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. Wall Street Zen cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.40.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG opened at $60.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.99 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.19. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $52.00 and a twelve month high of $75.34.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 2.19% and a negative return on equity of 81.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is 229.57%.

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.