XTX Topco Ltd Takes $1.30 Million Position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 42,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,202,000 after acquiring an additional 18,060 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.4% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 230,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,218,000 after purchasing an additional 35,825 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 155.1% during the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 37,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,773,000 after purchasing an additional 22,599 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 309.5% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 215,717 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,035,000 after buying an additional 163,037 shares during the period. Finally, Carmignac Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,411,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total transaction of $74,832.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at $1,788,173. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at $1,788,173. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $6,038,270.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares in the company, valued at $965,232,321.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,078 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,042. Corporate insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $73.95 on Friday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $82.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of -11.78 and a beta of 1.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.62.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 7.38% and a negative return on equity of 41.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.31%.

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.