Insider Selling: The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Director Sells 1,513 Shares of Stock

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 0.8 %

SMG opened at $66.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -137.82 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $56.01 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.67.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.45) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -549.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SMG shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 10.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,507,000. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.2% during the third quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% during the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 67,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,863,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

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.