Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG)

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 6,617 call options on the company. This is an increase of 466% compared to the typical volume of 1,170 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.83.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of SMG traded up $0.84 on Monday, reaching $52.25. 703,628 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 857,217. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 12 month low of $49.00 and a 12 month high of $93.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -108.90 and a beta of 1.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.92.

Remove Ads

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) EPS 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 in the previous year, the business posted ($1.45) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.05%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's payout ratio is currently -550.00%.

Insider Transactions at Scotts Miracle-Gro

In related news, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $10,213,973.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,310 shares in the company, valued at $6,319,463.60. This represents a 61.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Hagedorn Partnership, L.P. sold 12,123 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.86, for a total value of $810,543.78. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,432,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $898,073,615.86. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,937 shares of company stock valued at $11,379,275 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the third quarter worth about $44,000. 74.07% of the stock is currently 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.