Analysts Set The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) PT at $71.00

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.00.

SMG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $70.00 price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.40, for a total value of $3,320,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,167,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $874,331,362.40. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 24.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SMG. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,522,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,397,000 after acquiring an additional 16,298 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 29.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,165,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,368,000 after acquiring an additional 265,677 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,157,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,899 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,036,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,462,000 after acquiring an additional 314,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.3% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 898,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,171,000 after purchasing an additional 187,130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $69.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.49 and a beta of 1.98. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $45.61 and a 1 year high of $70.75.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.04) by $0.27. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 2.68% and a negative return on equity of 68.59%. The firm had revenue of $354.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.89) earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Scotts Miracle-Gro has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.150-4.35 EPS. Analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is 179.59%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumer lawn and garden products. The firm serves both retail and professional customers through an array of branded offerings that include lawn fertilizers, grass seed, pest and disease control solutions, plant foods and specialty products for indoor and outdoor gardening. Its portfolio spans well-known names such as Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and various hydroponic and specialty garden brands.

Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company traces its roots to O.M.