Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Price Target Raised to $74.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its price objective hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $71.00 to $74.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $68.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.67.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $55.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 73.58 and a beta of 1.96. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1-year low of $45.61 and a 1-year high of $85.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.44.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported ($1.96) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.88) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $387.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $396.75 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 1.54% and a negative return on equity of 60.46%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($2.31) earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.150-4.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total value of $3,569,011.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,217,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $832,975,735.82. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer acquired 1,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $61.32 per share, with a total value of $109,762.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $621,171.60. This trade represents a 21.46% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,645,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $254,979,000 after purchasing an additional 118,729 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,522,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,397,000 after purchasing an additional 16,298 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 288.8% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,421,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055,672 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 12,034.5% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,008,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 163.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 899,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,344,000 after purchasing an additional 557,647 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.