Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Price Target Cut to $70.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its price objective lowered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $80.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 23.46% from the stock’s previous close.

SMG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.33.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of SMG stock traded up $1.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.70. 291,462 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 927,615. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $53.37 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -118.13 and a beta of 1.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.29.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $255,112.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,008,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth $659,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $273,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 126,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,388,000 after purchasing an additional 24,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth $4,128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.