Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $546,000 Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 22.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,802 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $53,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,689,000 after buying an additional 264,369 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,986,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,434,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $31,136,000 after acquiring an additional 286,962 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. UBS Group set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of SMG opened at $61.44 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $64.94 and its 200 day moving average is $61.61. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $45.61 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.84 and a beta of 1.97.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 347.37%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.