The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.00.

Several research firms have issued reports on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, August 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Raymond James cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $86.00 to $70.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 30th.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 9.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $54.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.06 and a beta of 1.66. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $88.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The basic materials company reported ($2.77) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.83) by $0.06. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a positive return on equity of 421.70% and a negative net margin of 10.70%. The business had revenue of $374.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.04) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 27th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 24th. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -38.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 64,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.69, for a total value of $3,385,859.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,726.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 64,260 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.69, for a total transaction of $3,385,859.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,218,726.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 23,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.64, for a total value of $1,175,723.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,970,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $693,485,443.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,740 shares of company stock worth $6,944,642 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 27.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $3,112,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,336,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 484.4% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 314,997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,279,000 after purchasing an additional 261,097 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 43,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 7,542 shares during the period. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 11,535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 5,738 shares in the last quarter. 70.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is involved in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of 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, other durable products, and outdoor cleaners, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; gardening and landscape products comprising water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes and garden soils, mulch and decorative groundcover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and live goods and seeding solutions.