Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Announces Earnings Results

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34, Zacks reports. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a negative net margin of 0.98%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $75.80 on Wednesday. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12 month low of $53.43 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.66.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -382.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SMG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.83.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total value of $2,125,480.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,553,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,028,866,984.34. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $856,127.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 51,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,891,428.47. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,227 shares of company stock valued at $4,410,268 in the last three months. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.