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 Wells Fargo & Company from $80.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 27.81% from the company’s previous close.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of NYSE SMG traded down $3.19 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.77. The company had a trading volume of 720,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,600. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -114.10 and a beta of 1.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.19. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12 month low of $52.84 and a 12 month high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. 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.