Scotts Miracle-Gro Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:SMG)

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 11,240 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 417% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,173 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SMG. UBS Group dropped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.50.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $53,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,689,000 after buying an additional 264,369 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth $39,986,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,434,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,136,000 after purchasing an additional 286,962 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $53.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.58. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12 month low of $45.61 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -111.21 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.69 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

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.