Brokerages Set The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) PT at $65.83

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $65.83.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,645,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $254,979,000 after purchasing an additional 118,729 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,421,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,011,000 after buying an additional 1,055,672 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,689,000 after buying an additional 264,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,986,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $62.84 on Friday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $45.61 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.69. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -130.91 and a beta of 1.98.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 528.00%.

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.