Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG)

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 6,617 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 466% compared to the average daily volume of 1,170 call options.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,001,998. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 in the last 90 days. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SMG. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.33.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded up $2.05 on Wednesday, reaching $56.82. 529,069 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 931,771. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of -118.36 and a beta of 1.79. The company’s 50 day moving average is $63.57 and its 200-day moving average is $72.29. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a fifty-two week low of $53.37 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

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.