The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Director Brian E. Sandoval Sells 1,513 Shares

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) Director Brian E. Sandoval sold 1,513 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 13,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $858,748.54. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Stock Performance

Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock traded down $0.52 during trading on Monday, hitting $66.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 633,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 703,980. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of -137.82 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 52 week low of $56.01 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.64.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last released 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 quarter last year, the company posted ($1.45) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's dividend payout ratio is currently -549.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SMG. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.83.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMG. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,842 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,275 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,507,000. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,370 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $812,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% in the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 67,626 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,863,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock.

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.