ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Makes New $5.86 Million Investment in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 88,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,855,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP owned about 0.15% of Scotts Miracle-Gro at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.33.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $51.35 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $49.39 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -106.98 and a beta of 1.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.92.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.14%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

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.