Analysts Set The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Target Price at $69.29

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.86.

SMG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $86.00 to $70.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $68.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $52.67 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.50, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $88.61.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.24). Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 3.59% and a positive return on equity of 91.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -108.64%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 23,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.64, for a total transaction of $1,175,723.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,970,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $693,485,443.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 23,685 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.64, for a total transaction of $1,175,723.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,970,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $693,485,443.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 6,451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.43, for a total value of $357,578.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 125,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,932,352.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 126,480 shares of company stock worth $6,655,981 over the last quarter. 27.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SMG. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 146.1% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2,025.0% in the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 262.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pflug Koory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 61.0% during the second quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.10% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is involved in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of 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, other durable products, and outdoor cleaners, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; gardening and landscape products comprising water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes and garden soils, mulch and decorative groundcover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and live goods and seeding solutions.