Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys 50,394 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 154.7% in Q1, now owning 82,970 shares valued at approximately $4.55 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with Stifel Nicolaus lowering its price target to $70 while Wall Street Zen upgraded it to a "buy" rating; the current consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $71.17.
• The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66, contributing to a 4.2% yield, but has a high dividend payout ratio of 347.37%.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 154.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,970 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 50,394 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. owned about 0.14% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $4,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 31.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 stock was sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group set a $68.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

NYSE:SMG traded down $0.7230 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $60.3170. The company's stock had a trading volume of 148,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,058,103. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.66 and a beta of 1.97. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $45.61 and a twelve month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 60.46% and a net margin of 1.54%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period 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. On average, 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 business 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 dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is currently 347.37%.

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.