Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Upgraded by Truist Financial to "Buy" Rating

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $70.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock.

SMG has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Up 1.2 %

SMG traded up $0.63 on Wednesday, hitting $52.04. 622,901 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 856,776. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12-month low of $49.00 and a 12-month high of $93.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.47 and a 200-day moving average of $71.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of -108.47 and a beta of 1.96.

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Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business posted ($1.45) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is -550.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In other news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total value of $10,213,973.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total value of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275. Insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMG. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Investment House LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 61,190 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,059,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,664 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. 74.07% of the stock is currently 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.