Wellington Shields & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG – Get Rating) by 19.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,405 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC's holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SMG. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,472 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,977 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,021,000 after purchasing an additional 2,942 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $333,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.23% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded down $5.74 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.03. 18,210 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 449,247. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.10. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of -17.14 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $72.58 and a 12-month high of $180.43.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 25th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is currently -54.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SMG. TheStreet downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "c" rating to a "d+" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 3rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 60,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.74, for a total transaction of $5,864,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 261,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,589,895.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 27.31% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. It provides lawn care products comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, other durable products, and outdoor cleaners, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; gardening and landscape products include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes and garden soils, mulch and decorative groundcover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and lives goods and seeding solutions.

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