Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Price Target to $70.00

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

SMG has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.33.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SMG opened at $51.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -106.98 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.92. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 1 year low of $49.39 and a 1 year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, 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 value of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. The trade was a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Insiders own 25.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.