MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Sells 13,722 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. has reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 19.8% to approximately 55,611 shares, worth about $3,052,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro, with Amundi growing its position by 519.9% and Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC by 770.3% in the first quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, resulting in a 4.3% yield, despite a high payout ratio of 347.37%.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. reduced its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 19.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,611 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 13,722 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $3,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 8,826 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 10,300 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,524 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 12,100 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.17.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total value of $3,569,011.66. Following the sale, the director owned 13,217,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $832,975,735.82. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer purchased 1,790 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $61.32 per share, for a total transaction of $109,762.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $621,171.60. The trade was a 21.46% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SMG traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $59.72. The company had a trading volume of 513,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 650,094. The company's fifty day moving average price is $63.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.40. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $45.61 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.58 and a beta of 1.98.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is 347.37%.

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.