The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Receives $71.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.00.

SMG has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $70.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $67.00 target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE SMG opened at $69.07 on Tuesday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $45.61 and a one year high of $70.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.87 and a 200 day moving average of $59.48. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.99 and a beta of 1.98.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.04) by $0.27. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 2.68% and a negative return on equity of 68.59%. The firm had revenue of $354.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.89) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.150-4.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is 179.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.40, for a total value of $3,320,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,167,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $874,331,362.40. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 24.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SMG. State Street Corp lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,522,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,397,000 after purchasing an additional 16,298 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,165,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,368,000 after buying an additional 265,677 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,157,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,553,000 after buying an additional 2,899 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,036,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,462,000 after acquiring an additional 314,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 898,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,171,000 after acquiring an additional 187,130 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.