JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Stock Price

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its price target cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on SMG. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.50.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of SMG opened at $54.49 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -113.52 and a beta of 1.96. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1-year low of $45.61 and a 1-year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.69 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,432,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SMG. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 58,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,171,000 after purchasing an additional 7,206 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 112.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 219,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,439,000 after buying an additional 9,684 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.