Blair William & Co. IL Sells 46,657 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL has reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 19.7%, now owning approximately 0.33% of the company valued at $10.46 million.
• The company recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.59, exceeding analysts' expectations, though its revenue was down 1.2% year-over-year.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, representing a yield of 4.3%, set to be paid on September 5th.

Blair William & Co. IL cut its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 19.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 190,607 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 46,657 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.33% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $10,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SMG. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.1% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.3% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 8,826 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.0% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 10,300 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.8% in the first quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,524 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 12,530 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $831,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $68.00 price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of SMG traded down $1.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 541,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 906,362. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.96 and a beta of 1.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.93 and a 200 day moving average of $61.53. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $45.61 and a 1 year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 347.37%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

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.