32,127 Shares in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Bought by Trexquant Investment LP

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has acquired a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, purchasing 32,127 shares valued at approximately $1.76 million, representing 0.06% ownership in the company.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.2%, scheduled to be paid on September 5th.
• In the latest earnings report, Scotts Miracle-Gro exceeded EPS expectations with $2.59 earnings per share, although the quarterly revenue slightly declined by 1.2% compared to the previous year.

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 32,127 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,763,000. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.06% of Scotts Miracle-Gro as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 31.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of SMG opened at $62.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.36 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.38. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $45.61 and a 12-month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is currently 347.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer acquired 1,790 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 approximately $621,171.60. This represents a 21.46% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total transaction 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 represents a 0.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.

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