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

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat 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 twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $69.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $70.00 price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased 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.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $56.42 on Friday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a fifty-two week low of $45.61 and a fifty-two week high of $83.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.24 and a beta of 1.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported ($1.96) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.88) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $387.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.75 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 60.46% and a net margin of 1.54%.Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.31) EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.150-4.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer acquired 1,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $61.32 per share, for a total transaction of $109,762.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total value of $3,569,011.66. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,217,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $832,975,735.82. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 102,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,321 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,543 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.0% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 10,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.5% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 12,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.