The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $75.83.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SMG shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total transaction of $810,543.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at $898,073,615.86. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 189,664 shares of company stock worth $13,625,494. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. De Lisle Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth approximately $10,162,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 202.2% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 16,821 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after purchasing an additional 151,354 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth $1,110,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 63.5% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 56,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,884,000 after purchasing an additional 21,872 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of SMG opened at $55.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -116.35 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $67.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.88. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $55.68 and a 12-month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

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.