The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.50.

SMG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Tuesday, February 17th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark J. Scheiwer bought 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $71.44 per share, for a total transaction of $49,507.92. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 15,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,098,032.80. This trade represents a 4.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.40, for a total transaction of $3,320,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,167,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $874,331,362.40. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 24.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMG. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,569 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 149,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,227,000 after purchasing an additional 23,446 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter valued at about $244,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 750,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,964 shares during the period. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.2% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 16,537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE:SMG opened at $62.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42 and a beta of 1.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $65.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.04. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $45.61 and a 12-month high of $72.35.

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

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.