Christopher Hagedorn Sells 3,568 Shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Stock

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,001,998. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded down $1.54 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $69.42. The company had a trading volume of 449,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 686,473. The company has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.53 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.78. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $53.43 and a 1-year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is currently -549.99%.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group dropped 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

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.