Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Given New $71.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $71.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 14.11% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Citigroup restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.40.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG opened at $62.22 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.91. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $75.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 54.10 and a beta of 1.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Mark D. Kingdon sold 831 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total value of $51,231.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $667,484.55. The trade was a 7.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 24.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Compass Financial Management LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% during the third quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC now owns 31,973 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $234,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5,391.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 2,480 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,193,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $291,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a provider of consumer lawn and garden products headquartered in Marysville, Ohio. The company develops and markets products designed to help consumers grow and maintain lawns, gardens, landscapes and indoor plants.

Its portfolio includes lawn fertilizers, grass seed, plant food, gardening products, pest-control solutions, soils and related growing supplies. Key consumer brands include Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Ortho and Tomcat. The company also has a history of serving the controlled-environment agriculture and hydroponics markets through specialized growing products and supplies.

Scotts Miracle-Gro was founded in 1868 and has built a broad distribution network serving retail customers, garden centers and other outlets.