Advisors Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. has reduced its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 25.2%, selling 5,079 shares and now holding 15,081 shares valued at approximately $828,000.
• Several hedge funds, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Millennium Management LLC, have increased their stakes in Scotts Miracle-Gro, indicating growing institutional interest.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 4.3%, but has a high payout ratio of 347.37%.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 25.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,081 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,079 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying 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 1st 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 period. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SMG. 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer bought 1,790 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 approximately $621,171.60. The trade was 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 link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total value of $3,569,011.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,217,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $832,975,735.82. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG stock traded down $0.93 on Friday, hitting $60.78. 355,529 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 697,062. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $45.61 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.97 and a beta of 1.98.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. The firm'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. Sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 347.37%.

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.