XTX Topco Ltd Has $522,000 Stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)

XTX Topco Ltd reduced its stake in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) by 73.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,874 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 21,862 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro were worth $522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $255,112.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,001,998. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE SMG traded up $0.50 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.57. 1,197,589 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 897,367. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of -111.60 and a beta of 1.96. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $46.45 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $57.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.04.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -550.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SMG. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research 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, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.17.

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.