The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Plans $0.66 Quarterly Dividend

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.66 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd.

Scotts Miracle-Gro has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.2% per year over the last three years. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a payout ratio of 72.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Scotts Miracle-Gro to earn $3.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 75.4%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $78.60 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.64. The firm has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of -12.60 and a beta of 1.76. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a twelve month low of $43.67 and a twelve month high of $82.11.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.36. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 20.97% and a negative net margin of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 31,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.67, for a total transaction of $2,159,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,746,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,684,656.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 26.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $83.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.67.

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.