Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $47.52 and last traded at $48.12, with a volume of 1638416 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $52.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -104.99 and a beta of 1.96.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued 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 return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % 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, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SMG. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,203,000 after acquiring an additional 15,869 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,453,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,448,000 after purchasing an additional 14,730 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,689,000 after buying an additional 264,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth $39,986,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.