The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) EVP Sells $255,112.00 in Stock

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $255,112.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,972 shares in the company, valued at $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

NYSE SMG traded down $1.43 on Thursday, reaching $68.10. 735,888 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 686,195. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -141.86 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a fifty-two week low of $54.74 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 51.48%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is -549.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group dropped 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 research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $75.83.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SMG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 94.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 65,557 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,265,000 after acquiring an additional 31,862 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the second quarter worth $541,000. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 7.1% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,864 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 177.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,673 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,345,000 after buying an additional 13,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 41.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,553 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.