The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Holdings Raised by Scott & Selber Inc.

Scott & Selber Inc. increased its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 58.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,613 shares during the quarter. Scott & Selber Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $2,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SMG. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,421,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,011,000 after buying an additional 1,055,672 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 770.3% during the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 334,934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,385,000 after purchasing an additional 296,448 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,645,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $254,979,000 after purchasing an additional 118,729 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 149.5% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 192,437 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,563,000 after purchasing an additional 115,308 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 174.2% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 170,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,366,000 after purchasing an additional 108,408 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE:SMG opened at $56.04 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.74 and a beta of 1.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $61.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.21. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $45.61 and a 52 week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.40. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company’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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently 347.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.17.

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.