The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Receives $74.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.33.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 5.7 %

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $57.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of -120.64 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.30 and a 200-day moving average of $72.19. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 52-week low of $53.37 and a 52-week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares in the company, valued at $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % 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 three months. 25.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.