Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Price Target Lowered to $65.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on 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. Finally, Truist Financial raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE:SMG opened at $52.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -108.77 and a beta of 1.96. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $46.45 and a one year high of $93.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.61.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.45) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock worth $11,379,275 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.