Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Announces Earnings Results

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34, Zacks reports. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a negative net margin of 0.98%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 2.4 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $75.80 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.66. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $53.43 and a 1 year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -382.61%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,390,090.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,616,399.68. This represents a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total transaction of $38,570.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,553,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,045,499,556.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock valued at $4,410,268. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SMG shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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.