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

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $75.83.

Several analysts recently issued reports on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $255,112.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares in the company, valued at $4,001,998. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total value of $38,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,553,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,045,499,556.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 204,528 shares of company stock worth $14,879,354. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 94.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 65,557 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,265,000 after purchasing an additional 31,862 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 7.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 42,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of SMG opened at $68.10 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.73. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1-year low of $54.74 and a 1-year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -549.99%.

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.