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

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.40.

SMG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $59.46 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $64.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.80. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12 month low of $52.00 and a 12 month high of $75.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.70 and a beta of 1.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 81.90% and a net margin of 2.19%.The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is 229.57%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Mark D. Kingdon sold 831 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total value of $51,231.15. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $667,484.55. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.45, for a total value of $2,023,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,137,641 shares in the company, valued at $886,133,885.45. This trade represents a 0.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,002 shares of company stock valued at $2,154,734. 24.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6,349.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,485,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $237,399,000 after buying an additional 3,431,486 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 12,034.5% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,008,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,311 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the first quarter valued at $50,058,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 161.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,289,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,443,000 after acquiring an additional 795,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 458.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 822,743 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,268,000 after acquiring an additional 675,493 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.