The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $73.00.

Several research analysts have weighed in on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, March 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total value of $876,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492 in the last three months. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,640,383 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,815,000 after buying an additional 35,002 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.2% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,711,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,106,000 after purchasing an additional 108,593 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,183,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $139,226,000 after purchasing an additional 25,863 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,011,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,295,000 after purchasing an additional 119,115 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 903,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,717,000 after purchasing an additional 143,326 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 3.1 %

SMG opened at $69.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.09 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.48 and a 200-day moving average of $61.59. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $77.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 20.97% and a negative net margin of 10.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -42.31%.

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.