The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.00.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492. Insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 151.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 194,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,576,000 after purchasing an additional 117,314 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 126.7% in the third quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 63,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 35,456 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth about $823,000. FCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth about $1,011,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 19.8% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 78,474 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,056,000 after purchasing an additional 12,969 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.2 %

SMG stock opened at $67.70 on Friday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $43.67 and a 1 year high of $77.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.47. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of -9.62 and a beta of 1.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by $0.17. The business had revenue of $410.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.83 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 11.52% and a negative return on equity of 44.37%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.02) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -37.50%.

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.