Freedom Investment Management Inc. Invests $253,000 in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Freedom Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,835 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 19.1% in the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 17,287 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,136,000 after buying an additional 2,777 shares during the last quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 33.3% in the second quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 32,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,141,000 after buying an additional 8,100 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter worth approximately $254,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter worth approximately $456,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter worth approximately $435,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer bought 1,790 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $61.32 per share, with a total value of $109,762.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares in the company, valued at $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total value of $4,359,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $826,721,784.72. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.8%

SMG opened at $55.02 on Tuesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $45.61 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.40 and a beta of 1.96. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.70 and a 200-day moving average of $60.29.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.40. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 60.46% and a net margin of 1.54%.The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

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.