Empowered Funds LLC Invests $421,000 in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter valued at $866,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $14,035,000 after acquiring an additional 163,037 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.2% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 672,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,756,000 after acquiring an additional 14,533 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,359,000 after acquiring an additional 542,406 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 194.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 761,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,515,000 after acquiring an additional 502,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on SMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.60.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $77.86 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -112.84 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $82.15 and its 200-day moving average is $72.92. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $53.43 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -382.61%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro 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.