8,538 Shares in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Bought by Caxton Associates LLP

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP has acquired a new position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, purchasing 8,538 shares valued at approximately $469,000 in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Ameriprise Financial and Deutsche Bank, have recently increased their stakes, with hedge funds now owning 74.07% of the company's stock.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 4.3%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 347.37%.

Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 8,538 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $469,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SMG. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 86,929 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,767,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4,242.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 133,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 130,494 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $535,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $659,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 87.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 365,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,250,000 after acquiring an additional 171,034 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer bought 1,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $61.32 per share, with a total value of $109,762.80. Following the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Zacks Research upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.5%

SMG stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $60.47. 389,399 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,028,546. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $45.61 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 79.56 and a beta of 1.98.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company's revenue 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, research analysts expect 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is presently 347.37%.

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.