Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 14,427 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Cetera Investment Advisers lessened its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,427 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $1,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 519.9% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 58,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 48,643 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 219,313.5% during the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 162,366 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,710,000 after purchasing an additional 162,292 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 12.6% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 50,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,338,000 after buying an additional 5,649 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter worth about $901,000. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,183,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Zacks Research cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $70.00 price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

NYSE:SMG opened at $56.95 on Tuesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $79.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $55.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.93 and a beta of 1.98.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported ($1.96) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.88) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $387.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.75 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.31) EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.150-4.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer purchased 1,790 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $61.32 per share, with a total value of $109,762.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total transaction of $3,569,011.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,217,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $832,975,735.82. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.