The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Director Sells $99,646.18 in Stock

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

SMG traded up $0.96 during trading on Thursday, reaching $66.93. 194,742 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 695,625. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1 year low of $56.01 and a 1 year high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -139.45 and a beta of 1.74. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.72.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.45) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -549.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SMG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group decreased 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six investment 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, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 427.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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.