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

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.50.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE SMG 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 50 day moving average price of $78.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of -97.04 and a beta of 1.71.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,426 shares in the company, valued at $6,616,399.68. This represents a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,553,774 shares in the company, valued at $1,028,866,984.34. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock worth $4,410,268. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 5,201,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $338,421,000 after acquiring an additional 49,262 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.0% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,172,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,082,000 after purchasing an additional 151,354 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.4% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,155,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,307,000 after purchasing an additional 42,500 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,432,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,203,000 after purchasing an additional 15,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 815,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,048,000 after buying an additional 52,136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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.