Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Price Target to $80.00

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.67.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of SMG opened at $67.30 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.85. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 52 week low of $53.43 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -97.54 and a beta of 1.73.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -382.61%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total transaction of $2,125,480.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,553,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,028,866,984.34. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,390,090.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,616,399.68. The trade was a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock valued at $4,410,268. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 219,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,439,000 after purchasing an additional 9,684 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 112.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 58,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 7,206 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5,300.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.