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

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.50.

A number of brokerages have commented on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $70.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $56.52 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.54. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $79.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36 and a beta of 1.97.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported ($1.96) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.88) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $387.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.75 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 4.26%.The firm’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.31) EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.150-4.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 13,217,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $832,975,735.82. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,522,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,397,000 after buying an additional 16,298 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,421,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055,672 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 29.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,165,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,368,000 after acquiring an additional 265,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 14.5% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,154,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,767,000 after acquiring an additional 146,192 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.