The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Stock Has Average Price Target of $70.20

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.20.

A number of research firms have weighed in on SMG. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, October 15th.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.45, for a total value of $2,023,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,137,641 shares in the company, valued at $886,133,885.45. The trade was a 0.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark D. Kingdon sold 831 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total value of $51,231.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $667,484.55. This trade represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 24.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Compass Financial Management LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% in the third quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC now owns 31,973 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $234,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5,391.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,480 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,193,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.6%

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $62.22 on Friday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 52-week low of $47.90 and a 52-week high of $75.34. The company has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.10 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.91.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 2.19% and a negative return on equity of 81.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a provider of consumer lawn and garden products headquartered in Marysville, Ohio. The company develops and markets products designed to help consumers grow and maintain lawns, gardens, landscapes and indoor plants.

Its portfolio includes lawn fertilizers, grass seed, plant food, gardening products, pest-control solutions, soils and related growing supplies. Key consumer brands include Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Ortho and Tomcat. The company also has a history of serving the controlled-environment agriculture and hydroponics markets through specialized growing products and supplies.

Scotts Miracle-Gro was founded in 1868 and has built a broad distribution network serving retail customers, garden centers and other outlets.