Man Group plc Increases Stock Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Man Group plc lifted its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 264,668 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 51,624 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.46% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $17,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SMG. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,689,000 after purchasing an additional 264,369 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at $39,986,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at $39,434,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,136,000 after acquiring an additional 286,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 87.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 365,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,250,000 after acquiring an additional 171,034 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of SMG traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $62.84. 575,928 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 964,735. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.70. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -130.91 and a beta of 1.98. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $45.61 and a 1 year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.03. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.69 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is presently 528.00%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company 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.