Woodline Partners LP Grows Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP significantly increased its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company by 174.2%, owning approximately 0.30% of the company valued at $9.366 million after purchasing an additional 108,408 shares in the first quarter.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro reported earnings of $2.59 per share, exceeding estimates, and had a revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, which was slightly below expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, yielding 4.3%, although its dividend payout ratio is notably high at 347.37%.

Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 174.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,628 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 108,408 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 0.30% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $9,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% in the 1st 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. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $61.66 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.35. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $45.61 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.13 and a beta of 1.98.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during 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 was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders 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 4.3%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is currently 347.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $826,721,784.72. This represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer acquired 1,790 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $61.32 per share, with a total value of $109,762.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

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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