JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Stock Price

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its target price decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $70.00 to $67.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.62% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Citigroup restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.80.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG traded down $1.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $64.66. 999,600 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,029,451. The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49 and a beta of 1.87. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $47.90 and a one year high of $75.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported ($2.16) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.21) by $0.05. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 81.90% and a net margin of 2.19%. The company had revenue of $302.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.63) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Mark D. Kingdon sold 831 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total value of $51,231.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,827 shares in the company, valued at $667,484.55. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 24.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,163,000. Kestrel Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the first quarter worth $2,390,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 182.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 66,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,057,000 after buying an additional 43,066 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter valued at $1,323,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 500.3% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 114,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,814,000 after buying an additional 95,616 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a provider of consumer lawn and garden products headquartered in Marysville, Ohio. The company develops and markets products designed to help consumers grow and maintain lawns, gardens, landscapes and indoor plants.

Its portfolio includes lawn fertilizers, grass seed, plant food, gardening products, pest-control solutions, soils and related growing supplies. Key consumer brands include Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Ortho and Tomcat. The company also has a history of serving the controlled-environment agriculture and hydroponics markets through specialized growing products and supplies.

Scotts Miracle-Gro was founded in 1868 and has built a broad distribution network serving retail customers, garden centers and other outlets.