Versor Investments LP Lowers Stock 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 lessened its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 29.7% in the first quarter, according to 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 quarter. Versor Investments LP's holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth $53,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,689,000 after acquiring an additional 264,369 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth $39,434,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,136,000 after acquiring an additional 286,962 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total value of $4,359,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $826,721,784.72. This represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SMG. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE SMG traded down $1.4130 during trading on Monday, hitting $62.0070. 608,392 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 952,460. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.59 and a beta of 1.97. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $45.61 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.83 and a 200-day moving average of $60.57.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The company's revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

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

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.