Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Has $43.76 Million Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 672,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 14,533 shares during the quarter. Scotts Miracle-Gro comprises 1.0% of Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $43,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SMG. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 135.2% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 80.1% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.3% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SMG. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of SMG opened at $80.86 on Thursday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a twelve month low of $43.67 and a twelve month high of $82.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.96 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.04 and a 200-day moving average of $68.98.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently -42.31%.

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.