The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Receives $70.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.00.

SMG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of SMG opened at $68.74 on Friday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12 month low of $43.67 and a 12 month high of $77.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of -9.76 and a beta of 1.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by $0.17. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $410.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.02) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -37.50%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Doliver Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 7,594 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. FCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. FCF Advisors LLC now owns 17,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter worth approximately $213,000. Yarbrough Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 46.6% during the 1st quarter. Yarbrough Capital LLC now owns 16,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 5,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter worth approximately $237,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.