The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.66 (NYSE:SMG)

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 22nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.66 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd.

Scotts Miracle-Gro has increased its dividend by an average of 3.2% per year over the last three years. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a dividend payout ratio of 66.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Scotts Miracle-Gro to earn $3.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 69.5%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $68.58 on Wednesday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1-year low of $43.67 and a 1-year high of $77.95. The business’s 50 day moving average is $67.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.74 and a beta of 1.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported ($1.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.62) by $0.17. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $410.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.02) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SMG. Truist Financial lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 15,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,881,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,671,891.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 102,750 shares of company stock worth $6,604,492. Insiders own 26.46% 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.