The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.50.

Several equities analysts have commented on SMG shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group set a $67.00 price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Tuesday, February 17th.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer purchased 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $71.44 per share, for a total transaction of $49,507.92. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 15,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,098,032.80. The trade was a 4.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.40, for a total transaction of $3,320,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,167,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $874,331,362.40. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 24.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,522,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,397,000 after buying an additional 16,298 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,165,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,368,000 after buying an additional 265,677 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,157,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,553,000 after buying an additional 2,899 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,036,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,462,000 after acquiring an additional 314,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 898,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,171,000 after acquiring an additional 187,130 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $64.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 43.86 and a beta of 1.96. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a twelve month low of $45.61 and a twelve month high of $72.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.04) by $0.27. The company had revenue of $354.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $353.25 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 68.59% and a net margin of 2.68%.Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.89) EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.150-4.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 179.59%.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.