Invenomic Capital Management LP Purchases New Shares in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Invenomic Capital Management LP invested approximately $924,000 in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, acquiring 16,830 shares during the first quarter.
• The company reported an EPS of $2.59 for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.19, despite a decline in revenue by 1.2% year-over-year.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, representing a yield of 4.2%, with a payout ratio currently at 347.37%.

Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 16,830 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $924,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 31.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer bought 1,790 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 10,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $621,171.60. This represents a 21.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $61.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 132,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,033,855. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $45.61 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.72 and a beta of 1.98. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $64.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.34.

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 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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

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