Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $80.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

SMG has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.67.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

SMG stock opened at $67.04 on Tuesday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $53.43 and a one year high of $93.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $74.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of -97.16 and a beta of 1.73.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total value of $2,125,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,553,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,028,866,984.34. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $1,390,090.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,616,399.68. This trade represents a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock worth $4,410,268. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $866,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 672,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,756,000 after purchasing an additional 14,533 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $49,515,000 after purchasing an additional 502,353 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,162,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 202.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 25,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after buying an additional 16,821 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.