Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 3,332,510 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 64.2%, selling over 3 million shares in the first quarter.
• Several other large investors also increased their positions in Scotts Miracle-Gro, with Point72 Asset Management L.P. and Alyeska Investment Group L.P. making significant purchases.
• The company announced a $0.66 quarterly dividend, with an upcoming ex-dividend date of August 22nd, which reflects a 4.2% dividend yield.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 64.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,861,941 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,332,510 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned about 3.23% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $102,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $53,453,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $39,434,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,689,000 after buying an additional 264,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 87.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 365,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,250,000 after buying an additional 171,034 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.7%

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $60.85. 147,065 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,047,521. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.11 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.56.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is presently 347.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on SMG shares. Zacks Research upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group set a $68.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.17.

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.