3,588 Shares in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Purchased by Optas LLC

Optas LLC bought a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the first quarter worth about $41,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. 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 Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE SMG opened at $57.78 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $60.22 and a 200-day moving average of $60.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 76.03 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently 347.37%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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.