Stifel Nicolaus Increases Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Price Target to $81.00

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its target price increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $75.00 to $81.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. 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, August 1st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.60.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $72.99 on Monday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a fifty-two week low of $48.29 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of -15.43 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s 50-day moving average is $80.84 and its 200-day moving average is $72.40.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported ($2.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.94) by ($0.37). Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 41.19% and a negative net margin of 7.38%. The business had revenue of $414.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $392.95 million. As a group, analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -55.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at $2,689,665.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 2,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total transaction of $211,938.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,689,665.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 85,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.93, for a total value of $6,038,270.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,608,238 shares in the company, valued at $965,232,321.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 10,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 72.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 42,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,202,000 after buying an additional 18,060 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 8.0% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 79,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,911,000 after acquiring an additional 5,902 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the first quarter valued at about $87,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.4% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 230,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,218,000 after acquiring an additional 35,825 shares in the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by 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.