Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Rating Increased to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $70.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $78.00.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on SMG. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 7.2 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $59.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.79. The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -124.85 and a beta of 1.74. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $55.68 and a 1 year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 171,296 shares of company stock valued at $12,235,403. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $275,082,000 after buying an additional 151,354 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,203,000 after buying an additional 15,869 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,453,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,448,000 after buying an additional 14,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 628,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,689,000 after buying an additional 264,369 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.