Insider Selling: The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) EVP Sells $255,112.00 in Stock

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) EVP Christopher Hagedorn sold 3,568 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $255,112.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,972 shares in the company, valued at $4,001,998. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SMG stock opened at $69.46 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.74 and a 200-day moving average of $74.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.70 and a beta of 1.74. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a 1-year low of $53.43 and a 1-year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last released its earnings results 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 in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.45) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s payout ratio is -549.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Scotts Miracle-Gro from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.83.

Institutional Trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.1% in the third quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 42,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,807,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 83.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. 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.