Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Has $29.41 Million Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 14.7% in the first quarter, selling 92,687 shares to own approximately 0.93% of the company valued at $29.4 million.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.59, beating estimates, although revenue declined year-over-year by 1.2% to $1.19 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.2%, with an exceptionally high payout ratio of 347.37%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 14.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 535,727 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 92,687 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.93% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $29,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 553.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 189,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $12,549,000 after buying an additional 160,225 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 6,402 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 86,929 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,767,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $2,553,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4,242.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 133,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,861,000 after buying an additional 130,494 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 note on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $826,721,784.72. The trade was a 0.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer bought 1,790 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $61.32 per share, with a total value of $109,762.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 1.0%

SMG stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $62.42. The stock had a trading volume of 635,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 719,364. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.13 and a beta of 1.98. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $45.61 and a twelve month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. 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.