Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $346,000 Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 92.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 75,517 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 12,530 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,849 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $565,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 1.2%

SMG stock opened at $66.67 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $63.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.81. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $45.61 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 133.34 and a beta of 2.01.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 56.15% and a net margin of 1.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.69 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is 528.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on SMG shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 target price (up from $54.00) on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Thursday. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.83.

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.