The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.80.

SMG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Mark D. Kingdon sold 831 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total transaction of $51,231.15. Following the sale, the director owned 10,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $667,484.55. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 13,137,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,133,885.45. This trade represents a 0.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,002 shares of company stock valued at $2,154,734. 24.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised 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 purchasing an additional 795,970 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.9% during the first quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,087,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,121,000 after buying an additional 51,148 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 895,841 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $54,475,000 after buying an additional 72,179 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 1st quarter valued at about $50,058,000. Finally, Interval Partners LP raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 82.3% in the 4th quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 807,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,092,000 after buying an additional 364,285 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $50.62 on Wednesday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $75.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.20 and a 200-day moving average of $61.63. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 44.02 and a beta of 1.87.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 81.90% and a net margin of 2.19%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 229.57%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a consumer-focused lawn and garden products company headquartered in Marysville, Ohio. Founded in 1868, the company develops, manufactures and markets products that help consumers grow and maintain lawns, gardens and outdoor spaces.

Its portfolio includes lawn fertilizers, grass seed, plant foods, gardening products, pest-control solutions and related outdoor-care items. Key consumer brands have included Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Ortho and Tomcat, with products sold through home-improvement retailers, mass merchants, nurseries, garden centers and other distribution channels.

Scotts Miracle-Gro primarily serves customers in the United States and Canada.