Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Stock Rating Lowered by Stifel Nicolaus

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $71.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential upside of 6.61% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.67.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Scotts Miracle-Gro stock opened at $66.60 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.81 and a 200-day moving average of $63.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -138.75 and a beta of 1.99. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 52 week low of $45.61 and a 52 week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.95 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.69 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 477.9% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 479.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.