The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Receives $67.67 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.67.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG stock opened at $61.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of -127.35 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.71. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a fifty-two week low of $45.61 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently 528.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 454 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.