Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Stock Price Down 5% - Here's What Happened

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) dropped 5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $71.59 and last traded at $71.98. Approximately 1,083,446 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 71% from the average daily volume of 633,937 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -103.27 and a beta of 1.73. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $71.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.66.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is presently -382.61%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 18,368 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,616,399.68. The trade was a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.14, for a total value of $38,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,553,274 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,499,556.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,955 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter worth $698,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,429 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 24,456 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,622,000 after buying an additional 2,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. 74.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.