Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Has $41.12 Million Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company $SMG

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 32.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 722,019 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 347,624 shares during the quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $41,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SMG. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,421,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055,672 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 12,034.5% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,008,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,529,000 after buying an additional 1,000,311 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 458.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 822,743 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,268,000 after buying an additional 675,493 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 163.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 899,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,344,000 after acquiring an additional 557,647 shares during the period. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 333.3% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 603,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,836,000 after acquiring an additional 464,570 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $70.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $57.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.93 and a beta of 1.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.85 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 $79.11.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported ($1.96) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.88) by ($0.08). Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 4.26%.The company had revenue of $387.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.31) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.150-4.350 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is 109.09%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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.