The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.1667.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 56,633 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total value of $3,569,011.66. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,217,641 shares in the company, valued at $832,975,735.82. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer bought 1,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $61.32 per share, for a total transaction of $109,762.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $621,171.60. This represents a 21.46% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 25.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $54.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.40 and a beta of 1.96. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $45.61 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.12.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 60.46% and a net margin of 1.54%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.500- EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 347.37%.

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.