The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Receives $74.00 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $74.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,319,463.60. The trade was a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 over the last 90 days. 25.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 63.5% in the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 56,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,884,000 after acquiring an additional 21,872 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. RBF Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $2,601,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 331,925 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG stock opened at $54.92 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $63.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of -114.41 and a beta of 1.79. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1-year low of $53.37 and a 1-year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.45) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -550.00%.

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.