StockNews.com Lowers Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Monday morning.

SMG has been the subject of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $69.29.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $73.61 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of -10.46 and a beta of 1.69. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12 month low of $43.67 and a 12 month high of $78.25.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.62) by $0.17. The business had revenue of $410.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.83 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue was down 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.02) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -37.50%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $5,648,545.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,777,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $901,154,354.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $5,648,545.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,777,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $901,154,354.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total transaction of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492. Corporate insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 62.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,330,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $161,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283,911 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,336,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,543,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $98,370,000 after acquiring an additional 531,160 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,699,000. Finally, Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 1st quarter valued at $29,141,000. 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.