The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) Short Interest Update

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,980,000 shares, an increase of 21.0% from the February 28th total of 3,290,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 902,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 9.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised Scotts Miracle-Gro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.33.

Insider Activity at Scotts Miracle-Gro

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Investment House LLC increased its stake in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.3% in the 4th 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 raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.07% of the company’s stock.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Trading Up 4.9 %

NYSE:SMG traded up $2.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.43. 1,096,740 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 846,980. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.64 and a beta of 1.79. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a one year low of $53.37 and a one year high of $93.90.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by $0.34. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 51.48% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.45) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Scotts Miracle-Gro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -550.00%.

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.