Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Upgraded at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $70.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $78.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price target 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 reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG opened at $62.15 on Tuesday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $55.68 and a one year high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -129.47 and a beta of 1.79. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.71.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.45) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -550.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $856,127.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 51,631 shares in the company, valued at $3,891,428.47. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 171,296 shares of company stock valued at $12,235,403 in the last three months. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth $53,453,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $39,986,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,434,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 331,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 157.3% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 469,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,136,000 after purchasing an additional 286,962 shares in the last quarter. 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.