Analyzing Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) & Its Peers

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) is one of 295 publicly-traded companies in the “Chemicals” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Scotts Miracle-Gro to similar businesses based on the strength of its risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Scotts Miracle-Gro has a beta of 1.87, suggesting that its stock price is 87% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Scotts Miracle-Gro’s peers have a beta of 0.93, suggesting that their average stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Scotts Miracle-Gro and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Scotts Miracle-Gro	3.16%	-77.42%	8.57%
Scotts Miracle-Gro Competitors	-59.67%	0.26%	-1.43%

Dividends

Scotts Miracle-Gro pays an annual dividend of $2.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Scotts Miracle-Gro pays out 157.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Chemicals” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.2% and pay out 104.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Scotts Miracle-Gro and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Scotts Miracle-Gro	$3.29 billion	$145.20 million	38.94
Scotts Miracle-Gro Competitors	$6.36 billion	$222.31 million	9.84

Scotts Miracle-Gro’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Scotts Miracle-Gro. Scotts Miracle-Gro is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

74.1% of Scotts Miracle-Gro shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.0% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies are owned by institutional investors. 24.4% of Scotts Miracle-Gro shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.9% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Scotts Miracle-Gro and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Scotts Miracle-Gro	0	2	5	0	2.71
Scotts Miracle-Gro Competitors	3251	12224	14146	519	2.40

Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus target price of $74.80, suggesting a potential upside of 14.35%. As a group, “Chemicals” companies have a potential upside of 8.36%. Given Scotts Miracle-Gro’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Scotts Miracle-Gro is more favorable than its peers.

Summary

Scotts Miracle-Gro beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company develops, manufactures and markets branded products for lawn care and gardening. Its offerings include grass seed, lawn fertilizers and weed-control products, soils, plant foods and other products for growing and maintaining lawns, gardens and landscapes. Its consumer brands include Scotts, Miracle-Gro and Ortho. The company also has a Hawthorne business that supplies equipment and products for indoor and hydroponic gardening. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s products are sold primarily in North America, with additional operations and sales in international markets.