Virtu Financial LLC Invests $816,000 in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC invested approximately $816,000 in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by acquiring 14,872 shares during the first quarter.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.59, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.19, despite a year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66, with an annualized yield of 4.3%, reflecting a high dividend payout ratio of 347.37%.

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 14,872 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $816,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $826,721,784.72. This represents a 0.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $60.88 on Wednesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $45.61 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $65.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.20. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 80.11 and a beta of 1.97.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.40. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

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

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SMG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report).

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.