Scotts Miracle Gro’s CEO, CFO Have Been Buying

Scotts Miracle Gro CEO: This Tuesday, Chairman and CEO of Scotts Miracle Gro (NYSE:SMG) James Hagedorn, bought 40 shares of common stock at $49.53 each. Hagedorn now holds 2,504,656 shares, or approximately $139,384,106 at current stock prices ($55.65 per share; as of Wednesday, Oct. 2, 4:34 pm EST). However, he only holds 35,366 shares directly.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE:SMG)

Executive VP and CFO Lawrence Hilsheimer, also bought 40 shares at $49.53 each. This transaction resulted in Hilsheimer increasing his indirect holdings in the firm to 930 shares, or approximately $51,754 at current stock prices. The holdings are divided as follows: 220 shares were purchased under The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Discounted Stock Purchase Plan and 710 shares were acquired as part of Hilsheimers 401(K) plan. By acquiring the shares indirectly through these plans, the Evp and Cfo, as well as CEO Hagerdon, were able to buy common stock at a reduced price.

Scotts Miracle Gro reached $55.65 (as of Wednesday’s close) and is now trading very near its 52-week high of $55.99. The firm is currently trading at 24.2 times its trailing earnings, which means investors must take into account a 96% price premium relative to industry peers’ average. Additionally, the stock boasts a dividend yield of 2.55%. After the acquisition of common stock by Lawrence Hilsheimer and James Hagerdon, Scotts Miracle Gro shares climbed 0.27% (as of Wednesday, Oct. 2, 4:34 pm EST).

The hedge fund with the largest holding in the company is First Eagle Investment Management. The investment firm owns 5,944,406 shares of common stock, bringing its total involvement up to $287,174,000. Although this only represents a 0.84% of its portfolio, Jean Marie Eveillard, the hedge funds senior investment advisor, will be glad to see stock prices continue to rise.

Scotts Miracle Gro posted good results in its third quarter, with net sales up by $93 million, or 9 percent, to $1.15 billion for the quarter. According to a press release put forward by the firm, the quarterly dividend was increase by 35 percent, to $0.4375 per share, due to the positive results obtained in 2013.

Disclosure: Pablo Erbar holds no position in any stocks mentioned

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