Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $51.78 and last traded at $52.29, with a volume of 25477 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $52.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.40.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.79. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.12 and a beta of 1.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a net margin of 2.19% and a negative return on equity of 81.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is 229.57%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, Director Stephen L. Johnson sold 1,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total transaction of $80,002.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,061,829.28. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.45, for a total value of $2,023,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,137,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,133,885.45. This trade represents a 0.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 32,002 shares of company stock valued at $2,154,734 in the last three months. 24.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the first quarter worth about $50,058,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 161.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,289,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,443,000 after acquiring an additional 795,970 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 362.8% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 737,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,036,000 after acquiring an additional 578,174 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,595,000. Finally, Interval Partners LP boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 82.3% in the 4th quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 807,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,092,000 after purchasing an additional 364,285 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Scotts Miracle-Gro

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products. Founded in 1868 and headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company serves homeowners and gardening enthusiasts through products designed for growing, feeding, protecting and maintaining plants and lawns.

Its portfolio includes lawn fertilizers, grass seed, gardening soils, plant foods, weed and pest controls, and related gardening products. Well-known brands include Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Turf Builder, Ortho, Tomcat and Earthgro.