Captrust Financial Advisors Purchases 146,192 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,154,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 146,192 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors owned about 2.00% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $65,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 201.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 584 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 156.7% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $67.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $64.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 43.86 and a beta of 1.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.00. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $72.35.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.04) by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $354.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.25 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 68.59% and a net margin of 2.68%.Scotts Miracle-Gro’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.89) earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.150-4.35 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently 179.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer bought 693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.44 per share, with a total value of $49,507.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,098,032.80. This trade represents a 4.72% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.40, for a total transaction of $3,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,167,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $874,331,362.40. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 24.40% of the company’s stock.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.