Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on SMG. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group set a $67.00 target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 2.0%

SMG stock opened at $61.07 on Friday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a twelve month low of $52.00 and a twelve month high of $72.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12 and a beta of 1.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.20.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by $0.56. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 3.27% and a negative return on equity of 79.61%. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently 147.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer bought 693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.44 per share, for a total transaction of $49,507.92. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 15,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,098,032.80. The trade was a 4.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.40, for a total transaction of $3,320,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,167,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $874,331,362.40. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 24.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,522,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,397,000 after acquiring an additional 16,298 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,165,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,368,000 after acquiring an additional 265,677 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,157,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,553,000 after acquiring an additional 2,899 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,087,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,121,000 after acquiring an additional 51,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 898,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,171,000 after acquiring an additional 187,130 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.