UBS Group Cuts Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Price Target to $62.00

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its price target cut by UBS Group from $68.00 to $62.00 in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Friday, September 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $57.81 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.06 and a beta of 1.96. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1-year low of $45.61 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.11.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.40. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is 347.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer acquired 1,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $61.32 per share, for a total transaction of $109,762.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $621,171.60. The trade was a 21.46% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total transaction of $3,569,011.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,217,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $832,975,735.82. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 10.8% in the third quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 9.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 315.9% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 92,168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,079,000 after buying an additional 70,008 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 144,042 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,501,000 after buying an additional 15,173 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 54.1% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 9,775 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 3,430 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.