Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Trading Down 3.1% – What’s Next?

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)’s share price traded down 3.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $83.79 and last traded at $83.87. 215,524 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 815,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 lifted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.21 and a 200-day moving average of $69.78. The company has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of -13.37 and a beta of 1.76.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is -42.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,788,173. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,689,665.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total value of $74,832.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,788,173. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,078 shares of company stock worth $6,325,042. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 80.1% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 18,313 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is 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.