Stifel Nicolaus Increases Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Price Target to $75.00

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 3.81% from the company’s previous close.

SMG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Truist Financial cut shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.00.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded down $2.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $72.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 619,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 846,640. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12 month low of $43.67 and a 12 month high of $82.11. The company has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.57 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.70.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.42. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 7.38% and a negative return on equity of 35.89%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.67, for a total value of $2,159,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,746,012 shares in the company, valued at $957,684,656.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 31,000 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.67, for a total value of $2,159,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,746,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $957,684,656.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.95, for a total transaction of $74,832.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,788,173. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 26.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,229,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 2nd quarter worth $164,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the second quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 585,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,070,000 after purchasing an additional 15,569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.