Truist Financial Corp Sells 47,701 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp cut its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 81.9%, selling 47,701 shares in the second quarter, leaving it with around 10,511 shares valued at approximately $693,000.
• The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company reported quarterly earnings of $2.59 EPS, exceeding the expected $2.19 EPS, though its revenue of $1.19 billion missed estimates.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 4.7% and a high payout ratio of 347.37%.

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 81.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,511 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 47,701 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.1% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,286 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:SMG opened at $56.15 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $59.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.10. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $45.61 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.88 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 EPS 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is 347.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the 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 owned 13,274,274 shares in the company, valued at $826,721,784.72. This represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer acquired 1,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $61.32 per share, for a total transaction of $109,762.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SMG. 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Friday, September 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.17.

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.

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