AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 274,587 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 65.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 147,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 274,587 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.26% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $7,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on SMG shares. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group set a $68.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer acquired 1,790 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $61.32 per share, with a total value 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. This represents a 21.46% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total value of $4,359,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $826,721,784.72. The trade was a 0.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $61.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.13 and a beta of 1.98. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $93.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.35.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors 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 yield of 4.3%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is 347.37%.

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.