Federated Hermes Inc. Has $429,000 Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 30.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,594 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 135.2% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 80.1% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.3% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 11,216.7% in the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 679 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $77.92 on Tuesday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $43.67 and a 52 week high of $82.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of -12.49 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.47 and its 200-day moving average is $68.81.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 7.38% and a negative return on equity of 41.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -42.31%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,608,238 shares in the company, valued at $965,232,321.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $211,938.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $965,232,321.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,078 shares of company stock worth $6,325,042 over the last 90 days. 26.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.