The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.4% during Q1, owning 512,975 shares valued at approximately $28.2 million after selling 29,552 shares.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Scotts Miracle-Gro, with notable increases from Oppenheimer & Co. (21.9%) and GAMMA Investing LLC (31.6%).
• Scotts Miracle-Gro declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66, scheduled for payment on September 5th, providing an annualized yield of 4.3%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 512,975 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 29,552 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.89% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $28,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SMG. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 53.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,722 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 25,231 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 202.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 130,540 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,660,000 after purchasing an additional 87,340 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 62.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 190,961 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $12,668,000 after purchasing an additional 73,339 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on SMG. UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of SMG traded down $1.4130 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $62.0070. The company had a trading volume of 608,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,460. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 81.59 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $64.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.57.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is 347.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.