Brokerages Set The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) PT at $80.00

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.00.

A number of analysts have issued reports 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 research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price 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.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $69.74 on Tuesday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $43.67 and a 1 year high of $82.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.18 and a beta of 1.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $69.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.44.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -42.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% in 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 buying an additional 49,262 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,155,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,307,000 after buying an additional 42,500 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 542,406 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $53,048,000 after buying an additional 52,136 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $49,515,000 after buying an additional 502,353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.