Analysts Set The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Price Target at $77.50

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $77.50.

SMG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $856,127.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 51,631 shares in the company, valued at $3,891,428.47. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total transaction of $38,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,553,274 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock worth $4,410,268 over the last 90 days. 26.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,201,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $338,421,000 after acquiring an additional 49,262 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after purchasing an additional 151,354 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.4% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,155,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,307,000 after purchasing an additional 42,500 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,203,000 after purchasing an additional 15,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 815,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,048,000 after buying an additional 52,136 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:SMG opened at $68.52 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.81. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 52 week low of $53.43 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of -99.30 and a beta of 1.71.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -382.61%.

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.