The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG Position Increased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 45.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,247 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $3,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethic Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 79.9% during the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 14,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 6,445 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 413.5% during the first quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 37,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,082,000 after buying an additional 30,537 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 154.7% in the 1st quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 82,970 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,554,000 after acquiring an additional 50,394 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,320.7% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,543 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 2,364 shares during the period. Finally, LGT Group Foundation purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter valued at about $668,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.1%

SMG stock opened at $61.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 80.56 and a beta of 1.97. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $45.61 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.48.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total transaction of $4,359,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,274,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $826,721,784.72. This represents a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $68.00 price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.17.

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.