The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.66

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.66 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st.

Scotts Miracle-Gro has increased its dividend payment by an average of 1.0% per year over the last three years. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a payout ratio of 63.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Scotts Miracle-Gro to earn $4.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.5%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $75.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.59 and a 200-day moving average of $74.66. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12 month low of $53.43 and a 12 month high of $93.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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 note on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total value of $2,125,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,553,774 shares in the company, valued at $1,028,866,984.34. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,390,090.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,616,399.68. This trade represents a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,227 shares of company stock worth $4,410,268 over the last quarter. Insiders own 25.37% 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.