The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.00.

Several brokerages recently commented on SMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $5,648,545.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,777,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $901,154,354.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $5,648,545.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,777,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $901,154,354.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 90 days, insiders sold 102,750 shares of company stock worth $6,604,492. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 151.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 194,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,576,000 after purchasing an additional 117,314 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 126.7% during the third quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 63,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,278,000 after buying an additional 35,456 shares in the last quarter. FCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,011,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew 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 valued at $4,056,000 after acquiring an additional 12,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 590,658 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,525,000 after acquiring an additional 36,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $69.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.86 and a beta of 1.70. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $43.67 and a 1 year high of $77.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.09.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $410.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.83 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.02) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.65 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid 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 3.80%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -37.50%.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.