Versor Investments LP Cuts Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 29.7%, now holding 12,100 shares valued at approximately $664,000 following the sale of over 5,100 shares.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $2.59, exceeding expectations, but had a year-over-year revenue decline of 1.2% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66, representing a yield of 4.3%, with a dividend payout ratio of 347.37%.

Versor Investments LP decreased its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 29.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,100 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,108 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP's holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SMG. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,722 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 25,231 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,674,000 after buying an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in 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 valued at $8,660,000 after acquiring an additional 87,340 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings 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 valued at $831,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 190,961 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $12,668,000 after acquiring an additional 73,339 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $62.0350 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.63 and a beta of 1.97. The stock's fifty day moving average is $64.90 and its 200 day moving average is $60.82. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 60.46% and a net margin of 1.54%.Scotts Miracle-Gro's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter 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. Analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the subject of several research reports. 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group set a $68.00 price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.17.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director owned 13,274,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $826,721,784.72. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.