The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Shares Sold by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

Key Points

• DAVENPORT & Co LLC significantly reduced its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 64.4%, owning 9,616 shares after selling over 17,000 shares in the second quarter.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $2.64 and a yield of 4.8%.
• Despite mixed ratings from analysts, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $69.17.

DAVENPORT & Co LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 64.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,616 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 17,382 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,645,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $254,979,000 after acquiring an additional 118,729 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,421,220 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $78,011,000 after buying an additional 1,055,672 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 770.3% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 334,934 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $18,385,000 after buying an additional 296,448 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 294,555 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $16,168,000 after buying an additional 35,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 216,304 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,873,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SMG shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $68.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG stock opened at $55.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 73.09 and a beta of 1.96. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $60.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.10. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $93.90.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is presently 347.37%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total transaction of $3,569,011.66. Following the sale, the director owned 13,217,641 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer purchased 1,790 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $61.32 per share, for a total transaction of $109,762.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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