Insider Selling: The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Director Sells $74,832.00 in Stock

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total transaction of $74,832.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,788,173. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of SMG opened at $71.66 on Monday. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $43.67 and a 1-year high of $82.11. The stock has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of -11.48 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 7.38% and a negative return on equity of 41.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SMG. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 20.8% in the second quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 3,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter valued at $2,229,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter valued at $227,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter valued at $164,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter valued at $25,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.