Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.36 EPS

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.36, Briefing.com reports. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.37% and a negative net margin of 11.52%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $68.64. 861,482 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 760,526. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.66 and a beta of 1.70. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $43.67 and a one year high of $77.95.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is -37.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SMG. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial lowered Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $5,648,545.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,777,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $901,154,354.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 86,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $5,648,545.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,777,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $901,154,354.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,394 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.35, for a total value of $79,945.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,918 shares in the company, valued at $1,314,347.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $6,604,492 in the last ninety days. 26.46% 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.