Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Reaches New 12-Month High at $82.50

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $82.50 and last traded at $82.24, with a volume of 9899 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $71.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.96 and a beta of 1.75.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -42.31%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,788,173. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total transaction of $74,832.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,788,173. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $211,938.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,078 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,042. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,726,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,359,000 after acquiring an additional 542,406 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 194.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 761,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,515,000 after purchasing an additional 502,353 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,113,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $232,210,000 after purchasing an additional 479,315 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3,581.1% during the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 478,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,695,000 after purchasing an additional 465,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at $27,699,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.