Brokerages Set The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) PT at $74.00

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

NYSE:SMG opened at $54.92 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.39. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1-year low of $53.37 and a 1-year high of $93.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -114.41 and a beta of 1.79.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,319,463.60. This trade represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 over the last three months. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SMG. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.