ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 88,260 The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 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 reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,684,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $61,448,000 after purchasing an additional 14,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SMG shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.83.

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Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded down $3.72 on Thursday, hitting $48.87. 415,200 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 872,026. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -101.69 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.11. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $46.45 and a one year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.40%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is presently -550.00%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,001,998. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

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.