IFP Advisors Inc Increases Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 61.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $84,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% in the first 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 during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,421,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,011,000 after buying an additional 1,055,672 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 770.3% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 334,934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $18,385,000 after buying an additional 296,448 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.8% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 294,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,168,000 after buying an additional 35,730 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 27.5% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 243,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,032,000 after buying an additional 52,447 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer acquired 1,790 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $61.32 per share, for a total transaction of $109,762.80. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 10,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $621,171.60. This represents a 21.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total value of $3,569,011.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,217,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $832,975,735.82. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $68.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $54.26 on Monday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $45.61 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 71.40 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.40. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 60.46% and a net margin of 1.54%.The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 347.37%.

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.