PharVision Advisers LLC Makes New $316,000 Investment in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• PharVision Advisers LLC purchased 5,760 shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company valued at approximately $316,000 in the first quarter, reflecting increased interest from institutional investors.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.59 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, but its revenue decreased by 1.2% year-over-year.
• The company has a dividend yield of 4.2%, but its payout ratio is notably high at 347.37%.

PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,760 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% in the first 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. Millennium Management LLC grew 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 valued at $78,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055,672 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,689,000 after purchasing an additional 264,369 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 770.3% in the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 334,934 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $18,385,000 after purchasing an additional 296,448 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $61.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 167,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,034,051. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $64.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.34. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $45.61 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.99 and a beta of 1.98.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business'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. Analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 347.37%.

Insider Activity 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 shares were purchased at an average price of $61.32 per share, with a total value of $109,762.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares in the company, valued at $621,171.60. The trade was a 21.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $826,721,784.72. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report 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 report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.17.

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.