Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.34 EPS

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34, Zacks reports. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.98% and a negative return on equity of 44.97%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $78.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -111.95 and a beta of 1.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $71.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.66. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $53.43 and a 12-month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is currently -382.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SMG shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total transaction of $38,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,553,274 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $856,127.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 51,631 shares in the company, valued at $3,891,428.47. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,227 shares of company stock valued at $4,410,268 in the last 90 days. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

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.