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

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $73.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SMG shares. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, March 25th.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.67, for a total transaction of $2,159,770.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,746,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,684,656.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 11,216.7% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 679 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 1st quarter valued at about $479,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 5,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 2,048 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 974.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 41,987 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,132,000 after purchasing an additional 38,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 38,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,896,000 after purchasing an additional 7,231 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $63.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of -10.19 and a beta of 1.76. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $43.67 and a 12-month high of $77.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.09.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.