Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Has $16.17 Million Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 13.8%, acquiring an additional 35,730 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total to 294,555 shares worth approximately $16.17 million.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 4.2%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 347.37%.
• Recent earnings reports show Scotts Miracle-Gro generated $1.19 billion in revenue, falling short of analyst expectations and reporting an earnings per share of $2.59, exceeding estimates.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 13.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 294,555 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,730 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned 0.51% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $16,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,645,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $254,979,000 after purchasing an additional 118,729 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $53,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 264,369 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,434,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,136,000 after acquiring an additional 286,962 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.23. 596,751 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 746,397. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $64.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.52. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.56 and a beta of 1.97.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. The business'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. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is presently 347.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SMG. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. 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 research report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $68.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $826,721,784.72. The trade was a 0.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.