Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Boosts Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 31.0% in Q2, owning 18,608 shares valued at approximately $1.23 million.
• Several institutional investors have also raised their stakes, with 74.07% of the company’s stock now held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66, representing an annualized dividend yield of 4.6%, despite a high payout ratio of 347.37%.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,608 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,398 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer acquired 1,790 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total value of $4,359,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares in the company, valued at $826,721,784.72. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. 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 note on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $68.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 1.1%

SMG stock opened at $57.81 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $45.61 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $60.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.06 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 60.46% and a net margin of 1.54%.The business's revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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