Ethic Inc. Increases Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Ethic Inc. lifted its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,287 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,777 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 33.3% in the second quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 32,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,141,000 after purchasing an additional 8,100 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter worth about $254,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter worth about $456,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth about $435,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,475.0% during the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of SMG opened at $55.45 on Monday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12 month low of $45.61 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $58.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.95 and a beta of 1.96.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently 347.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group dropped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $68.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer purchased 1,790 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $61.32 per share, for a total transaction of $109,762.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $621,171.60. The trade was a 21.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

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.