The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.50.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SMG. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.5 %

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $66.96 on Thursday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 52-week low of $53.43 and a 52-week high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -97.04 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.88.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -382.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total transaction of $2,125,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,553,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,028,866,984.34. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,390,090.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,616,399.68. This represents a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 194.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 761,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,515,000 after purchasing an additional 502,353 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1,033.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,563,000 after buying an additional 331,925 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8,330.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 281,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,405,000 after buying an additional 278,146 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 228.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 252,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,918,000 after acquiring an additional 175,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 309.5% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 215,717 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,035,000 after acquiring an additional 163,037 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.