Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Purchases 1,108 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL raised its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 27.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 80.1% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.60.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $74.41 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -107.84 and a beta of 1.76. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $53.43 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.69.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -382.61%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,689,665.60. This represents a 7.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $6,038,270.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares in the company, valued at $965,232,321.34. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.