Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Price Target to $67.00

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $75.00 to $67.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SMG. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group set a $68.00 target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG stock opened at $56.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 73.74 and a beta of 1.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.21. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly 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. Equities research analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 347.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total transaction of $3,569,011.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,217,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $832,975,735.82. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer purchased 1,790 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $61.32 per share, with a total value of $109,762.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.