Truist Financial Upgrades Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) to Buy

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) was upgraded by research analysts at Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $70.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 31.67% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.33.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $53.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of -110.76 and a beta of 1.79. The company’s 50-day moving average is $62.92 and its 200-day moving average is $72.05. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a fifty-two week low of $52.84 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.45) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

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 value of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. This represents a 0.09 % 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 valued at $11,379,275 over the last ninety days. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SMG. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company 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.