The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Shares Sold by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 61.7%, now owning 28,545 shares valued at approximately $1.88 million.
• Institutional investors currently own 74.07% of Scotts Miracle-Gro's stock, reflecting increased interest from several hedge funds.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro's recent earnings report showed a EPS of $2.59, surpassing estimates, but revenue decreased by 1.2% year-over-year.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 61.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,545 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 45,938 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,421,220 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $78,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055,672 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 770.3% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 334,934 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $18,385,000 after acquiring an additional 296,448 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 219,313.5% during the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 162,366 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $10,710,000 after acquiring an additional 162,292 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% during the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 149.5% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 192,437 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $10,563,000 after acquiring an additional 115,308 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $55.55 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.08. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $45.61 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.09 and a beta of 1.96.

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. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer purchased 1,790 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $61.32 per share, for a total transaction of $109,762.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares in the company, valued at $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 13,217,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $832,975,735.82. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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