The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Stake Reduced by Earnest Partners LLC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC reduced its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 1.1%, now owning 3,070,003 shares valued at approximately $168.51 million as of the first quarter.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro's latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $2.59, exceeding estimates, but with a 1.2% decrease in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, effective September 5th, representing a yield of 4.2% with a significantly high dividend payout ratio of 347.37%.

Earnest Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,070,003 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 35,276 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 5.32% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $168,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SMG. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,453,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,434,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,136,000 after acquiring an additional 286,962 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,689,000 after acquiring an additional 264,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 87.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 365,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $24,250,000 after acquiring an additional 171,034 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $68.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG stock traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $61.23. 596,751 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 746,397. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 80.56 and a beta of 1.97. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $45.61 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The company's fifty day moving average is $64.88 and its 200 day moving average is $60.52.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is presently 347.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $826,721,784.72. This represents a 0.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.