The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.20.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $61.72 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $55.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.90. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $75.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.67 and a beta of 1.87.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 2.19% and a negative return on equity of 81.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.45, for a total value of $2,023,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,137,641 shares in the company, valued at $886,133,885.45. This represents a 0.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark D. Kingdon sold 831 shares of the firm’s 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 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 24.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5,391.3% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,480 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,193,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $291,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 7.4% during the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 137,543 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,892,000 after purchasing an additional 9,420 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.