Ibex Wealth Advisors Makes New $6.97 Million Investment in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 105,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,972,000. Ibex Wealth Advisors owned 0.18% of Scotts Miracle-Gro as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 770.3% during the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 334,934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,385,000 after acquiring an additional 296,448 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 219,313.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 162,366 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,710,000 after acquiring an additional 162,292 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,645,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $254,979,000 after acquiring an additional 118,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 149.5% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 192,437 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,563,000 after purchasing an additional 115,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total value of $3,569,011.66. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,217,641 shares in the company, valued at $832,975,735.82. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer bought 1,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $61.32 per share, with a total value of $109,762.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $621,171.60. The trade was a 21.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on SMG. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $70.00 price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $56.42 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.55. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $45.61 and a twelve month high of $83.55. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.24 and a beta of 1.98.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported ($1.96) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.88) by ($0.08). Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 60.46% and a net margin of 1.54%.The company had revenue of $387.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($2.31) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.150-4.350 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

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.