Raymond James Financial Inc. Trims Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 40.0%, selling 241,192 shares and retaining ownership of 361,556 shares valued at approximately $19.8 million.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.2%, with the payout scheduled for September 5th.
• Despite a slight revenue decline, the company reported an EPS of $2.59, exceeding analyst expectations, while its stock price was $62.29 with a market cap of $3.60 billion.

Raymond James Financial Inc. cut its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 40.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 361,556 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 241,192 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.63% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $19,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,645,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $254,979,000 after acquiring an additional 118,729 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,689,000 after purchasing an additional 264,369 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,434,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,136,000 after purchasing an additional 286,962 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SMG shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.17.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,274,274 shares in the company, valued at $826,721,784.72. The trade was a 0.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.1%

SMG traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $61.23. 596,751 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 746,397. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.52. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $45.61 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 80.56 and a beta of 1.97.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro's revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is presently 347.37%.

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.