Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Given New $83.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Truist Financial lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a buy rating to a hold rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $72.57.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE:SMG traded up $1.87 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $70.54. 937,423 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 703,000. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.11. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.30 and a beta of 1.70. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $43.67 and a 1 year high of $77.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.36. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 20.97% and a negative net margin of 10.14%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -42.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $5,648,545.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,777,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $901,154,354.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $5,648,545.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,777,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $901,154,354.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 22,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 102,750 shares of company stock worth $6,604,492 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Markel Group Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 7.7% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,531,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 1st quarter valued at $72,000. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 1st quarter worth $966,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 230,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,218,000 after purchasing an additional 35,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the first quarter valued at about $87,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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.