Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on SMG. UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE:SMG opened at $60.78 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $63.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.35. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 52 week low of $45.61 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.97 and a beta of 1.98.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.40. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 60.46% and a net margin of 1.54%.The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. On average, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is 347.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer bought 1,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $61.32 per share, with a total value of $109,762.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $621,171.60. This represents a 21.46% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total value of $4,359,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,274,274 shares in the company, valued at $826,721,784.72. This trade represents a 0.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,645,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $254,979,000 after buying an additional 118,729 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,522,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,397,000 after purchasing an additional 16,298 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,421,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055,672 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 12,034.5% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,008,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 163.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 899,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,344,000 after purchasing an additional 557,647 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.