The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.66

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 21st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.66 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd.

Scotts Miracle-Gro has increased its dividend by an average of 1.0% annually over the last three years. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a dividend payout ratio of 62.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Scotts Miracle-Gro to earn $4.04 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.3%.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMG traded down $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $52.89. 200,218 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,044,784. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $56.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.72. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -109.94 and a beta of 1.96. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a 52-week low of $46.45 and a 52-week high of $93.90.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.86, for a total transaction of $99,646.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % 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 this link. Also, CEO James Hagedorn sold 142,733 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. 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 ninety days. Insiders own 25.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.17.

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.