Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Trading Up 5.2% Following Dividend Announcement

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) shares shot up 5.2% during mid-day trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $77.46 and last traded at $77.55. 395,661 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 501,392 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.73.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.66 dividend. 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 3.71%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is presently -382.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Down 5.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of -103.27 and a beta of 1.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $71.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.66.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a negative net margin of 0.98%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.45) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $1,390,090.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,616,399.68. This trade represents a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan Eric Baxter sold 11,359 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $856,127.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 51,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,891,428.47. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,227 shares of company stock valued at $4,410,268 over the last ninety days. 25.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 94.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 65,557 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,265,000 after buying an additional 31,862 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.9% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 38,971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,621,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 6.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 815,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,048,000 after purchasing an additional 52,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth about $1,158,000. 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.