The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Director Brian E. Sandoval Sells 1,513 Shares

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 1.5 %

SMG stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Thursday, hitting $66.93. 194,742 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 695,625. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -139.45 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52-week low of $56.01 and a 52-week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -549.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of 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. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial cut 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

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.