SG Americas Securities LLC Takes Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,426 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,011,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at $53,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,689,000 after purchasing an additional 264,369 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at $39,986,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at $39,434,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,136,000 after purchasing an additional 286,962 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 1.8%

SMG stock traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $61.92. 1,482,559 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 966,416. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 123.84 and a beta of 1.99. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $45.61 and a twelve month high of $93.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.19.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.04% and a negative return on equity of 56.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 528.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.67.

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.