The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $75.20 According to Brokerages

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.20.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $48.98 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.83. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 52-week low of $47.90 and a 52-week high of $75.34. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 42.60 and a beta of 1.87.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 81.90% and a net margin of 2.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 229.57%.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 30,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.45, for a total value of $2,023,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,137,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,133,885.45. The trade was a 0.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen Johnson sold 1,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total value of $80,002.72. Following the sale, the director owned 30,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,061,829.28. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,002 shares of company stock valued at $2,154,734. 24.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 161.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,289,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,443,000 after acquiring an additional 795,970 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.9% in the first quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,087,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,121,000 after acquiring an additional 51,148 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 895,841 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,475,000 after acquiring an additional 72,179 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 1st quarter valued at about $50,058,000. Finally, Interval Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 82.3% during the 4th quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 807,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,092,000 after purchasing an additional 364,285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a consumer-focused lawn and garden products company headquartered in Marysville, Ohio. Founded in 1868, the company develops, manufactures and markets products that help consumers grow and maintain lawns, gardens and outdoor spaces.

Its portfolio includes lawn fertilizers, grass seed, plant foods, gardening products, pest-control solutions and related outdoor-care items. Key consumer brands have included Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Ortho and Tomcat, with products sold through home-improvement retailers, mass merchants, nurseries, garden centers and other distribution channels.

Scotts Miracle-Gro primarily serves customers in the United States and Canada.